Development of a chlamydial vaccine for koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

摘要

Widespread chlamydial infection in koalas resulting significant morbidity and mortality and is therefore a major threat for surviving koala density across Australia. Antibiotics are the currently practice one of the main therapeutic measures but the asymptomatic nature of the disease reduces their effectiveness. In this thesis, we evaluated the most updated version of rMOMP (major outer membrane protein) based anti-chlamydial vaccine adjuvanted with Tri-Adjuvant components. We have successfully completed our vaccine trial in captive koalas as well as in wild koalas. The vaccine induced specific immune responses and looks very promising to protect this iconic animals from debilitating effect of chlamydial infections.