AIDS-like virus threatens koalas

A decade ago, the alarm bells for very gentle koalas were vibrated. A new virus like HIV attacks koalas, reducing their numbers and threatening them to become extinct.

Koala

Currently, Australian researchers are launching a campaign to prevent the spread of the virus before it's too late.

Even before the virus emerged in 2000, koalas were dirtier than truck parking mud. Scientists estimate that about 50% of koalas now have a sexually transmitted disease caused by chlamydia.

Unfortunately, the womb's immune system has been weakened by the same HIV virus, so the chlamydia bacteria that previously did not kill the bears now kill them too easily.

To combat the epidemic, Australia's wildlife rescue hospitals have expanded the health care area for koalas nationwide, treating koalas from chlamydia caused by the virus. weak immune system. Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology in Brissban hope that with the $ 1.7 million they spent to produce chlamydia for koalas and save them from their lives.