Australian Koalas Look Forward to Healthier New Year
Animal health company donates drugs to cure life-threatening disease
Australian koalas are being successfully cured of a life-threatening disease, chlamydia, and released back into the wild, thanks to the help of global animal health company, Ceva Santé Animale.
Between 30 and 50 per cent of the Australian koala population in the wild were suffering from chlamydia. There were fears that the sexually transmitted disease, which causes infertility, blindness and even death, could eventually wipe out the entire koala population.
Ceva donated supplies of the primary drug used to treat chlamydia in animals, to the world famous Australia Zoo in Brisbane to help combat the problem. Now other animal centres in Australia are using it to treat their own koalas that have contracted the disease.
Robert Johnson, President of the Australian Veterinary Association says: "For Ceva to make the drug specifically for koalas and distribute to major zoos within the region is a wonderful boon to the health of the koala. It's pretty obvious that the animals are in a better condition than they were a few years ago when we didn't have the drug."
Australia Zoo senior vet Amber Gillett says Ceva's intervention had been vital in tackling the chlamydia problem:
"I can't emphasise enough how vital this drug is for treating chlamydia in koalas. We've tried multiple different drugs, and there is simply nothing as effective as this is. We're eternally grateful for Ceva coming on board and agreeing to manufacture a large batch of this drug for us."
Martin Mitchell, Group Communication Director of Ceva Santé Animale says: "When we learned of this problem we were delighted to react and play our role in safeguarding this iconic marsupial. Ceva is committed to combatting disease in animals to protect their welfare, not only is this the right thing to do, in the end we also help protect ourselves and importantly our environment."
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About Ceva Santé Animale:
Ceva Santé Animale was founded in 1999 and is a global veterinary health company, focused on research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceutical products and vaccines for companion animals, livestock, swine and poultry. Its headquarters are in Libourne (Gironde).
Ceva Chairman and CEO is Marc Prikazsky.
Website: www.ceva.com
Charlotte Turner
Junior Account Executive
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