Endeavour Veterinary Ecology Pty Ltd, Toorbul, Queensland, Australia.
Genecology Centre, Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia.
PLoS One. 2018 Dec 27;13(12):e0209679. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209679. eCollection 2018.
Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) have suffered severe declines in the northern extent of their range due to a variety of threats, including habitat destruction, trauma from cars and dogs, climate change and importantly, disease. The most significant pathogen in koalas is Chlamydia pecorum, which causes inflammation and fibrosis at mucosal sites, resulting in blindness, infertility and death in severe cases. Chlamydia treatment can be problematic in koalas as the response to treatment is often poor in chronic cases and antimicrobial choice is limited. Thus, chlamydial disease is a severely threatening process for koala conservation. We investigated the short and long-term clinical outcomes for 167 koalas with Chlamydia that underwent capture, telemetric monitoring and intensive veterinary management as part of a large-scale population management program in South East Queensland. Chlamydia treatments included the standard regimen of daily subcutaneous chloramphenicol injections (60mg/kg) for 14 to 28-days, and a variety of non-standard regimens such as topical antimicrobials only (for ocular disease), surgical treatment only (for bilateral reproductive tract disease), and other antimicrobials/treatment lengths. To assess these regimens we analysed clinical records, field monitoring data and swab samples collected from the urogenital tract and ocular conjunctiva. Overall, in contrast to other studies, treatment was generally successful with 86.3% of treated koalas released back into the wild. The success of treatment rose to 94.8% however, when the standard treatment regimen was employed. Further, 100% of koalas that were also treated with surgical ovariohysterectomy (n = 12) remained healthy for a median of 466 days of post-treatment monitoring, demonstrating the benefits of surgical treatment. Previous studies reported 45-day chloramphenicol regimens, but the shorter standard regimen still achieved microbiological cure and reduces the risk of negative sequelae associated with treatment and/or captivity and treatment costs. Despite these positive clinical outcomes, alternatives to chloramphenicol are warranted due to its decreasing availability.
考拉（Phascolarctos cinereus）由于多种威胁，包括栖息地破坏、汽车和狗造成的创伤、气候变化以及重要的疾病，其分布范围的北部地区已经严重减少。考拉中最主要的病原体是鹦鹉热衣原体，它会导致黏膜部位发炎和纤维化，在严重的情况下会导致失明、不孕和死亡。由于慢性病例的治疗反应通常不佳，抗菌药物的选择有限，因此考拉的衣原体病治疗可能存在问题。因此，衣原体病是考拉保护的一个严重威胁过程。我们调查了 167 只考拉的短期和长期临床结果，这些考拉患有衣原体病，作为昆士兰州东南部大规模种群管理计划的一部分，它们经历了捕获、遥测监测和密集的兽医管理。衣原体病的治疗包括标准方案，即每天皮下注射氯霉素（60mg/kg）14 至 28 天，以及各种非标准方案，如仅局部使用抗菌药物（用于眼部疾病）、仅手术治疗（用于双侧生殖道疾病）和其他抗菌药物/治疗时间。为了评估这些方案，我们分析了临床记录、现场监测数据以及从泌尿生殖道和眼部结膜收集的拭子样本。总的来说，与其他研究相比，治疗通常是成功的，86.3%接受治疗的考拉被放归野外。然而，当采用标准治疗方案时，治疗成功率上升到 94.8%。此外，接受手术卵巢切除术（n=12）治疗的考拉 100%在治疗后监测的中位数 466 天内保持健康，这表明手术治疗的益处。先前的研究报告了 45 天的氯霉素方案，但较短的标准方案仍然实现了微生物学治愈，并降低了与治疗和/或圈养以及治疗费用相关的负面后果的风险。尽管取得了这些积极的临床结果，但由于氯霉素的供应减少，仍需要替代方案。
