S1E5 - Koala Chlamydia

Content Warning: graphic descriptions of STIs, death, some sprinkling of thinking too much about how much of a horror bodies are.

Koalas are well known for being disease ridden (at least in our circles) so lets talk about it. Chlamydia is highly contagious and deadly in koalas as well as birds, cows, and many other animals. This is a trip down sex education memory lane and details the horrible death that is untreated STIs.

Rachel's Primary Sources:

1. Wang, H., Jensen, J.-K., Olsson, A., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Guy, L., Ellström, P., Laroucau, K., & Herrmann, B. (2020). Chlamydia psittaci in Fulmars on the Faroe Islands: A causative link to South American psittacines eight decades after a severe epidemic. Microbes and Infection, 22(8), 356–359.


2. Phillips, S., Quigley, B. L., Aziz, A., Bergen, W., Booth, R., Pyne, M., & Timms, P. (2019). Antibiotic treatment of chlamydia-induced cystitis in the koala is linked to expression of key inflammatory genes in reactive oxygen pathways. PLOS ONE, 14(8).


3. Van Wettere, A. J. (2020, February). Avian chlamydiosis - avian chlamydiosis. Merck Veterinary Manual.


4. Chen, C.-J., Casteriano, A., Green, A. C., & Govendir, M. (2023). A retrospective study on antibacterial treatments for koalas infected with chlamydia pecorum. Scientific Reports, 13(1).


5. Willson, G., & Cimon, K. Y. (2024, June 3). Bursa - cyst. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Secondary Sources:

1. Li, Z., Liu, P., Hou, J., Xu, G., Zhang, J., Lei, Y., Lou, Z., Liang, L., Wen, Y., & Zhou, J. (2020). Detection of Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia ibidis in the endangered crested ibis (nipponia nippon). Epidemiology and Infection, 148.


2. Marti, I., Pisano, S. R. R., & Wehrle, M. (2019). Severe conjunctivitis associated with chlamydia felis infection in a free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 55(2), 522.


3. Laroucau, K., Aaziz, R., Lécu, A., Laidebeure, S., et al. (2020). A cluster of Chlamydia Serpentis cases in captive snakes. Veterinary Microbiology, 240, 108499.


4. Laroucau, K., Ortega, N., Vorimore, F., et al. (2020). Detection of a novel chlamydia species in captive spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo Graeca) in southeastern Spain and proposal of Candidatus Chlamydia Testudinis. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 43(2), 126071.


5. Laroucau, K., Vorimore, F., Aaziz, R., Solmonson, L., et al. (2019). Chlamydia buteonis, a new chlamydia species isolated from a red-shouldered hawk. Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 42(5), 125997.


6. Santoro M, Iaccarino D, Di Nocera F, Degli Uberti B et al. (2019). Molecular detection of Chlamydia abortus in a stranded Mediterranean striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba. Dis Aquat Org 132:203-208.

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