Ceva launches wildlife research fund
The Ceva Wildlife Research Fund is funding the final stage of development of a chlamydia vaccine for koalas.
Ceva has launched Ceva Wildlife Research Fund, a unique endowment fund to finance applied research to preserve the health of wild animals and help control the risk of zoonoses.
The global health company has pledged that the results of research supported by the fund will be visible within a maximum of three to five years.
The Ceva Wildlife Research Fund will support a number of concerns, including research into the control of diseases that occur in wildlife and tracing the origin of outbreaks. The risk of zoonotic diseases is increasing, with 75 per cent of new infectious diseases affecting humans today originating in animals - mainly wild animals.
The fund will also enable applied research to preserve biodiversity. An example of which is Ceva’s collaboration with the University of the Sunshine Coast in Brisbane, funding the final stage of development and associated testing of their chlamydia vaccine for koalas, as well as supporting additional studies to be used in the official registration process of the vaccine.
Australian authorities declared the population of East Coast koalas as a threatened species in February 2022. Their declining population may be due to the destruction of their natural habitat due to fires, increasing urbanisation, as well as chlamydia, which is having a serious impact on their reproduction and long-term survival.
President of Ceva Wildlife Research Fund Marc Prikazsky, said: "Addressing biodiversity in a holistic way is nothing new for Ceva. However, with the creation of this endowment fund, we wanted to create a separate structure to enshrine this activity. Ceva Wildlife Research Fund comes at a crucial time for research in the field. As we face an urgent need to act, we want to provide funds for innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, but also to contribute to the preservation of endangered species and to secure safer interactions between wild and farmed animals.”
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
