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Helping koalas battle disease – Recent advances in Chlamydia and koala retrovirus (KoRV) disease understanding and treatment in koalas4.66 MB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Helping koalas battle disease – Recent advances in Chlamydia and koala retrovirus (KoRV) disease understanding and treatment in koalas
FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Vol.44(5), pp.583-605
2020
Abstract
The iconic Australian marsupial, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), has suffered dramatic population declines as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, disease, vehicle collision mortality, dog attacks, bushfires and climate change. In 2012, koalas were officially declared vulnerable by the Australian government and listed as a threatened species. In response, research into diseases affecting koalas has expanded rapidly. The two major pathogens affecting koalas are Chlamydia pecorum, leading to chlamydial disease and koala retrovirus (KoRV). In the last eight years, these pathogens and their diseases have received focused study regarding their sources, genetics, prevalence, disease presentation and transmission. This has led to vast improvements in pathogen detection and treatment, including the ongoing development of vaccines for each as a management and control strategy. This review will summarize and highlight the important advances made in understanding and combating C. pecorum and KoRV in koalas, since they were declared a threatened species. With complementary advances having also been made from the koala genome sequence and in our understanding of the koala immune system, we are primed to make a significant positive impact on koala health into the future.
Details
- Title
- Helping koalas battle disease – Recent advances in Chlamydia and koala retrovirus (KoRV) disease understanding and treatment in koalas
- Authors
- Bonnie L Quigley (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, GeneCology Research Centre - LegacyPeter Timms (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy
- Publication details
- FEMS Microbiology Reviews, Vol.44(5), pp.583-605
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Date published
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1093/femsre/fuaa024
- ISSN
- 1574-6976
- Copyright note
- Copyright (C) FEMS 2020. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99469907502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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