World first: Koala gets life-changing two-shot chlamydia vaccine

An 18-month-old female koala named Bamse became the first to receive a groundbreaking double-dose chlamydia vaccine in implant form at Currumbin Wildlife Hospital in Queensland, nine months after the vaccine was approved for Australia's koala population; the biodegradable implant releases a second dose over 30 days, eliminating the need to recapture wild koalas for follow-up treatment and enabling large-scale vaccination of a species where approximately 50% of remaining koalas are infected.

Long-term efficacy and population-level impact will depend on sustained rollout and monitoring across fragmented koala populations.