A vaccine to protect koalas against the deadly sexually transmitted disease, chlamydia, has been approved in a move being celebrated by scientists and the conservation sector. In a world-first, researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast spent 10 years developing and testing the single-dose vaccine, which has successfully been trialled on hundreds of wild koalas spanning several generations. Chlamydia accounts for as much as half of koala deaths across wild populations. Credit: Geoff FrancisThey are now calling for funding to roll the vaccine out nationwide. Chlamydia can cause urinary tract infections, infertility, blindness and even death in koalas.