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考拉是澳大利亚的标志性动物，但衣原体病正在严重威胁它们：病考拉可能失明、膀胱发炎，雌性还会失去生育能力，部分种群的感染率高达三分之二。据《卫报》10 月 25 日报道，一种已获批准的疫苗究竟效果如何，科学家之间出现了分歧。文章先介绍疾病的表现，再解释为什么不能简单地用抗生素治疗：考拉依靠肠道微生物消化有毒的桉树叶，抗生素会连这些有益微生物一起杀死。接着说明阳光海岸大学（University of the Sunshine Coast）研发的单剂疫苗在 2025 年 9 月获批，其研发者 2024 年发表的论文称疫苗使衣原体致死率在十年间降低 64%。随后呈现两方面的质疑：昆士兰大学的基思·查佩尔认为论文存在“低级错误”，把考拉接种前的存活时间错算成了疫苗的效果，修正后差异不再显著（这项研究尚未经过同行评审）；另一项设有安慰剂对照组、在新南威尔士州进行 12 个月的野外试验也发现，疫苗虽然引起了免疫反应，却没有对疾病产生明显作用。最后交代监管机构和研发负责人彼得·蒂姆斯的回应。阅读时可留意 however、while、but 如何引出不同证据，以及 may、argue、has not yet been checked 等表达如何区分已确认的事实与尚待检验的观点。

正文

At wildlife hospitals in eastern Australia, many sick koalas arrive with red, weeping eyes or brown patches on their bottoms. These are signs of chlamydia, a disease caused by bacteria that can make koalas blind and leave females unable to have babies. In some groups of koalas, as many as two in three animals are infected. A vaccine against the disease was approved last year, but as the Guardian reported on 25 October, scientists now disagree about how well it works.

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在澳大利亚东部的野生动物医院，许多被送来的病考拉眼睛发红、流泪，或者屁股上有棕色斑块。这些都是衣原体病的症状。这是一种由细菌引起的疾病，可能使考拉失明，并使雌性无法生育。在一些考拉群体中，多达三分之二的个体受到感染。一种针对这种疾病的疫苗去年获得批准，但据《卫报》10 月 25 日报道，科学家们现在对它的效果存在分歧。

Why not simply use medicine? In humans, chlamydia can usually be treated with one dose of antibiotics. Koalas are different. They depend on helpful microbes in their gut to digest toxic eucalyptus leaves, and antibiotics can kill these microbes too. “We can kill the chlamydia … but the problem is that in the process, you can easily kill the koala as well,” said Mark Krockenberger of the University of Sydney.

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为什么不直接用药物治疗呢？在人类身上，衣原体感染通常只需一剂抗生素就能治好。考拉却不同。它们依靠肠道中的有益微生物来消化有毒的桉树叶，而抗生素也会杀死这些微生物。“我们能杀死衣原体……但问题是，在这个过程中，你也很容易把考拉杀死，”悉尼大学的马克·克罗肯伯格说。

That is why researchers in Queensland have spent more than ten years working on vaccines. A single-dose vaccine developed by the University of the Sunshine Coast was approved by Australia’s veterinary medicines regulator in September 2025. A 2024 paper by its developers reported that it reduced chlamydia deaths by 64% over ten years.

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正因如此，昆士兰的研究人员花了十多年研发疫苗。阳光海岸大学研发的一种单剂疫苗于 2025 年 9 月获得澳大利亚兽药监管机构的批准。其研发者在 2024 年发表的一篇论文称，这种疫苗在十年间使衣原体导致的死亡减少了 64%。

However, Keith Chappell, a scientist at the University of Queensland, says that paper contains a “silly mistake”. In a study that has not yet been checked by other experts, he and a colleague argue that the time koalas lived before they were vaccinated was wrongly counted as a benefit of the vaccine. After they corrected this, they found no significant difference in survival or disease between vaccinated and unvaccinated koalas.

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然而，昆士兰大学的科学家基思·查佩尔表示，那篇论文存在一个“低级错误”。在一项尚未经过其他专家审核的研究中，他和一位同事认为，考拉在接种疫苗之前存活的时间被错误地算成了疫苗带来的好处。修正这一点后，他们发现接种和未接种疫苗的考拉在存活率或患病情况上没有显著差异。

Another study points in a similar direction. Last year, researchers followed three groups of wild koalas in New South Wales for 12 months. Some animals received the vaccine, while others received a placebo, a treatment with no medicine in it. The vaccine did cause an immune response, but it had no clear effect on the disease. “We wanted a very strong effect of the vaccine and we didn’t get it,” said researcher Valentina Mella.

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另一项研究也指向了类似的方向。去年，研究人员对新南威尔士州的三个野生考拉群体进行了为期 12 个月的跟踪。一些考拉接种了疫苗，另一些则接受了安慰剂，也就是不含药物成分的处理。疫苗确实引起了免疫反应，但对疾病没有明显效果。“我们希望疫苗有很强的效果，但我们没有得到，”研究人员瓦伦蒂娜·梅拉说。

The developers and the regulator have not changed their position. The regulator says it only allows the claim that the vaccine “may aid in the reduction of clinical signs of the disease“, not that it prevents disease or death. Peter Timms, who led the vaccine’s development, says his team has published 29 papers reviewed by experts and remains confident of “a strong health benefit“.

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研发者和监管机构没有改变立场。监管机构表示，它只允许宣称这种疫苗“可能有助于减轻该疾病的临床症状”，而不是宣称它能预防疾病或死亡。领导该疫苗研发的彼得·蒂姆斯说，他的团队已经发表了 29 篇经过专家审阅的论文，并且仍然相信疫苗能带来“明显的健康益处”。

新闻来源

• The Guardian · Koalas are cute, furry, iconic – and dying of chlamydia. But how well does the approved vaccine work? (Donna Lu, 25 Oct 2026)
• University of the Sunshine Coast · World first: UniSC’s koala vaccine approved to fight deadly disease (September 2025)

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