Development of a vaccine to protect koalas against koala retrovirus (KoRV)

该项目旨在开发一种针对考拉逆转录病毒(KoRV)的疫苗，以阻止由于这种感染而造成的动物日益增加的损失。除了衣原体，KoRV还威胁着考拉的长期生存。KoRV感染了澳大利亚95%以上的考拉，并与淋巴瘤和白血病密切相关。虽然隔离和抗逆转录病毒药物治疗是可能的控制措施，但在野外是不可行的，使疫苗接种成为唯一现实的选择。这对野生和圈养考拉都很有价值；动物园报告说，由于KoRV相关的淋巴瘤，动物损失很大。主要成果将是一种KoRV疫苗，它可以与正在平行开发的衣原体疫苗相结合。

This project aims to develop a vaccine against koala retrovirus (KoRV) to arrest the increasing loss of animals due to this infection. Along with Chlamydia, KoRV threatens the long-term survival of the koala. KoRV infects over 95 per cent of Australia’s koalas and has been strongly linked to lymphoma and leukemia. Although quarantine and antiretroviral drug treatment are possible control measures, they are impractical in the wild, leaving vaccination as the only realistic option. This is valuable for both wild and captive koalas; zoos report high animal losses due to KoRV-associated lymphoma. The main outcome will be a KoRV vaccine which can be combined with a Chlamydia vaccine which is being developed in parallel.