Advancements in noninvasive koala monitoring through combining Chlamydia detection with a targeted koala genotyping assay.

ABSTRACT: Wildlife diseases are major players in local and global extinctions. Effective disease surveillance, management and conservation strategies require accurate estimates of pathogen prevalence. Yet pathogen detection in wild animals remains challenging. Current gold standards often require samples collected through veterinary examination, but this method is costly, intensive, invasive, and requires specialised staff and equipment. Collection of non-invasive samples, such as scats, is an effective monitoring tool which can be deployed at large scale, as scats contain DNA of both host and pathogens. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is listed as 'endangered' under the EPBC Act 1999, with chlamydial disease representing a major threat. Here, we present a new approach that combines restriction-e

SUBMITTER: Premachandra HKA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11621440 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature