Chlamydia trachomatis may have stolen the show in our last episode, but there are many other Chlamydiae that deserve some time under the spotlight. In this bonus episode, Dr. Martina Jelocnik (@MartinaJelocnik) and Dr. Sam Phillips (@Sam_Phillips_83) from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, join us to chat about some of these other Chlamydia species and the effects they have on wildlife and domestic animals. Curious about koalas and chlamydia? This episode will bring you up to speed on how these charismatic creatures are impacted by Chlamydia pecorum as well as current research efforts towards a vaccine to combat this pathogen. Wondering about psittacosis and birds? Or livestock and Chlamydiae? We’ve got you covered there as well! Tune in this week for a truly fascinating deep dive into the wide world of these pathogens!

If you want to learn more about the Chlamydiae we discussed in this episode or the koala vaccine trials, check out the following papers:

• Anstey, Susan I., et al. “Chlamydia Psittaci ST24: Clonal Strains of One Health Importance Dominate in Australian Horse, Bird and Human Infections.” Pathogens 10.8 (2021): 1015.
• Clune, Tom, et al. “Chlamydia pecorum detection in aborted and stillborn lambs from Western Australia.” Veterinary research 52.1 (2021): 1-11.
• Jelocnik, Martina. “Chlamydiae from down under: The curious cases of chlamydial infections in Australia.” Microorganisms 7.12 (2019): 602.
• Jenkins, Cheryl, et al. “Chlamydia pecorum ovine abortion: Associations between maternal infection and perinatal mortality.” Pathogens 10.11 (2021): 1367.
• Jenkins, Cheryl, et al. “An epizootic of Chlamydia psittaci equine reproductive loss associated with suspected spillover from native Australian parrots.” Emerging microbes & infections 7.1 (2018): 1-13.
• Kasimov, Vasilli, et al. “Emerging and well‐characterised chlamydial infections detected in a wide range of wild Australian birds.” Transboundary and Emerging Diseases (2022).
• Lau, Andrew, et al. “Azithromycin or doxycycline for asymptomatic rectal Chlamydia trachomatis.” New England Journal of Medicine 384.25 (2021): 2418-2427.
• Phillips, Samuel, Peter Timms, and Martina Jelocnik. “Is Chlamydia to Blame for Koala Reproductive Cysts?.” Pathogens 10.9 (2021): 1140.
• Phillips, Samuel, et al. “Vaccination of koalas during antibiotic treatment for Chlamydia-induced cystitis induces an improved antibody response to Chlamydia pecorum.” Scientific reports 10.1 (2020): 1-12.
• Phillips, Samuel, et al. “Antibiotic treatment of Chlamydia-induced cystitis in the koala is linked to expression of key inflammatory genes in reactive oxygen pathways.” PLoS one 14.8 (2019): e0221109.
• Phillips, Samuel, Bonnie L. Quigley, and Peter Timms. “Seventy years of Chlamydia vaccine research–limitations of the past and directions for the future.” Frontiers in microbiology 10 (2019): 70.
• Phillips, Samuel, et al. “Chlamydia pecorum gastrointestinal tract infection associations with urogenital tract infections in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus).” PLoS One 13.11 (2018): e0206471.