One Direction Koala Chlamydia Scare: STD from a Koala?

One Direction band members Harry Styles and Liam Payne are worried they may have caught chlamydia while in Australia last week.

Liam Payne and Harry Styles, who were in Australia on tour with their band members, cuddled up to a 3-year-old Koala named Kat who unexpectedly urinated on both of them. Ultimately, this is a health hazard, since 80% of koalas carry chlamydia, which is a sexually transmitted disease whose effects include severe conjunctivitis (commonly known as pink eye), incontinence, prostatitis and kidney damage.

"I'm genuinely scared. This is worrying," Payne told the Sun. "I’d have never picked the thing up if I'd known." 

• Koala Sex Upstages Brooklyn Decker & Andy Roddick

Can You get Chlamydia from Koalas?

While transmission from koalas to humans is unlikely, some koalas have a specific strain of chlamydia that can be passed to other species. Fortunately, chances that the 18-year-old singers contracted the disease are very slim, and in the worst case scenario it is said to be treatable. 

Could have been much worse for One Direction, though: some koalas also have a strain of AIDS.

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One Direction in chlamydia scare after handling koala in Australia

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sourced by Emily Sutherlin