Urogenital Chlamydiosis Kills Sam the Koala

by Jordan Yerman | August 6, 2009 at 09:55 am

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Urogenital Chlamydiosis has killed Sam the Koala, who had survived the devastating bushfires that ravaged Victoria, Australia, in February. Sam the Koala won the hearts of Australia- and the world- when she was rescued by a volunteer firefighter, and survived her injuries, only to face euthanasia due to urogential chlamydiosis (Chlamydia), which affects 50% of the koala population. The disease causes blindness, infertility, incontinence, urinary tract infections, and death.

The badly burned koala, filmed drinking from a volunteer fire fighter's water bottle, became a symbol of hope for the survivors of Australia's worst ever bushfires that killed about 173 people and destroyed more than 2,000 dwellings, leaving 7,5000 homeless,

"It was so severe that there was no possible way to be able to manage her pain."

While rampant in the koala population, we are not sure how koalas contracted chlamydia in the first place.

Chlamydia is a bacterium that infects a wide range of animals, including birds, sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, cats, mice and humans. It is considered to be the main pathogen of koalas.

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