Journal article
Longitudinal study of wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) reveals chlamydial disease progression in two thirds of infected animals
Scientific Reports, Vol.9, 13194
2019
Abstract
Chlamydial disease threatens many of Australia's koala populations, and yet our understanding of chlamydial epidemiology and disease dynamics in koalas is limited by a lack of comprehensive, longitudinal population studies. To address this, we utilised longitudinal samples from a large-scale population study of wild koalas in south-east Queensland, to follow chlamydial infections over time and to investigate some of the drivers of disease progression. Our findings show, firstly, that almost two thirds of chlamydial infections progressed to disease, challenging the notion that chlamydial infections in koalas commonly remain chronic and asymptomatic. Secondly, disease progression at the urogenital tract site was associated with infection load, and urogenital tract shedding was significantly higher when koalas acquired a new infection. Thirdly, chronic chlamydial exposure was not necessary for pathogenic sequelae to develop, such as infertility and mortality. Fourthly, ompA-characterised strain sub-types may reflect tissue tropisms and pathogenicity, and the chlamydial status of some chronically infected koalas may be explained by reinfections with novel genotypes. Finally, successful antimicrobial treatment provided only short-term protection against reinfection and disease progression in susceptible koalas. These findings highlight the importance of identifying and preventing chlamydial infections in koalas, informing new population management strategies and research priorities.
Details
- Title
- Longitudinal study of wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) reveals chlamydial disease progression in two thirds of infected animals
- Authors
- Amy Robbins (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastJon Hanger (Author) - Endeavour Veterinary Ecology Pty LtdMartina Jelocnik (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastBonnie L Quigley (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastPeter Timms (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Scientific Reports, Vol.9, 13194; 9
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-019-49382-9
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- Copyright note
- Copyright © The Author(s) 2019. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450756202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
17 File views/ downloads
285 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Web Of Science research areas
- Microbiology
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites