DIAGNOSIS
Koalas with suspected chlamydiosis should undergo a thorough clinical examination, including ultrasonography of the urinary and reproductive tracts, and testing for the presence of chlamydial DNA (Blanshard and Bodley 2008; Polkinghorne et al.
2013). PCR testing of ocular and urogenital swabs is the preferred method for detecting chlamydial DNA (Casteriano and Higgins 2016). Protocols for collecting swabs for PCR testing are described in Blanshard and Bodley (2008); qPCR detects chlamydial DNA from urogenital and conjunctival sites and estimates the infectious load shed at the tested site. This method has proven valuable for detecting subclini- cal chlamydial infections and for evaluating the effectiveness of antimicrobial treatment in conjunction with clinical evaluation. Rectal swabs have also been examined in some facilities, though the significance of detectable DNA at this site is still under investigation. Published examples of species-specific assays for C. pecorum include those targeting C. pecorum-specific single copy genes (Jelocnik et al. 2017; Hulse et al. 2018, 2019). These assays are mostly limited to research; however, testing of free- ranging koalas admitted to wildlife hospitals is becoming more prevalent, helped by improved accessibility to testing at local universities. A simple, sensitive and specific loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) screening assay for the detection of C. pecorum in koalas as a point-of-care diagnostic tool that can be used in wildlife hospitals and in the field is now available. It enables clinicians to provide a rapid definitive diagnosis using freshly collected clinical samples that require minimal processing. This facilitates guidance of biosecurity decisions and practice, informs clinical management and application of appropriate therapeutic interventions and can be used to fast track conservation management decisions (Jelocnik et al. 2017; Hulse et al. 2019). Ultrasonography is recommended for diagnosing internal structural changes associated with chlamydiosis in both male and female koalas. Female reproductive tract disease is most often discernible as unilateral or bilateral fluid-filled ovarian bursal cysts in the caudal abdomen-pelvic inlet. Reproductive tract disease in male koalas is more difficult to diagnose, though sonographic changes may be evident in the prostate, or palpable as gross structural change in the testes-epididymis (Stalder et al. 2016).6.
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