A vaccine used to treat chlamydia in Australia’s koala population has been approved for rollout, in a world-first project.

Researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast spent more than 10 years developing a single-dose vaccine to protect the famed Australian marsupial from the effects of chlamydia, which include urinary tract infections, infertility, blindness and death, the university said in a statement Wednesday.

Chlamydia is responsible for half of koala deaths in the country’s wild populations, which are predominantly found in the eucalyptus forests along Australia’s eastern coast.

“Some individual colonies are edging closer to local extinction every day, particularly in South East Queensland and New South Wales, where infection rates within populations are often around 50 percent and in some cases can reach as high as 70 percent,” Peter Timms, professor of microbiology at UniSC’s Centre for Bioinnovation, said in a statement.

Often used as an emblem of Australian culture, the fluffy gray marsupials can only be found in Australia, and are considered endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Aside from disease, the creatures are vulnerable to habitat loss, animal attacks and being hit by cars, and were named critically endangered in 2022, according to Australia’s World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

They are also often victims of the deadly bushfires that have ravaged Australia in its summer months in recent years. This year, some 860 koalas in Budj Bim National Park were shot from the air to “reduce suffering” after a bushfire, CNN affiliate 9News reported.

Antibiotics were previously used to treat chlamydia in koalas, but the drugs often interfere with their ability to digest their staple diet of eucalyptus leaves, causing them to starve to death.

Now approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for production and widespread use, the chlamydia vaccine has already been trialed on hundreds of wild and captive koalas, according to UniSC, which noted it had already been tested across multiple generations of the animal in a study published last year.

“This study found that the vaccine reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms of chlamydia during breeding age and decreased mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65 percent,” said researcher Sam Phillips, who led the study, which was the largest and longest study of wild koalas.

“It’s based on Chlamydia pecorum’s major outer membrane protein (MOMP), and offers three levels of protection — reducing infection, preventing progression to clinical disease and, in some cases, reversing existing symptoms,” he added.

In humans, chlamydia is a bacterial sexually transmitted infection that can cause infertility if left untreated.

The disease spreads in koala populations through reproduction and social behavior connected to mating. In addition, baby koalas — known as joeys — can catch the disease from their mothers.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.

PARIS — Protesters set fires as they blocked highways and gas stations across France early Wednesday as part of a new nationwide movement. Authorities deployed 80,000 police, who made hundreds of arrests and fired tear gas to disperse crowds.

The “Block Everything” movement was born online over the summer in far-right circles, but spread on social media and was co-opted by left-wing, antifascist and anarchist groups. It now includes France’s far-left parties and the country’s powerful labor unions.

Their joint day of unrest adds to the country’s political turmoil, after the collapse of centrist President Emmanuel Macron’s government earlier this week in a similar backlash over proposed budget cuts and broader anger at the political class.

Barricades were erected in several major French cities, including Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse. Entry to an Amazon depot in northern France was also blocked as the country’s largest union said some 715 disruptions had been organized nationwide.

In the capital Paris, groups gathered and set up barricades at several entry points to the city. Demonstrations were expected to continue throughout the day, with travel disrupted as some of the main transport unions joined the strike.

Hundreds remained gathered outside Gare du Nord, one of the city’s main train stations, despite earlier attempts from police to disperse the crowds with tear gas.

“We are here, even if Macron doesn’t want us, we are here,” they chanted.

There were dramatic scenes outside a high school in eastern Paris, where police clashed with dozens of students who had blocked entry to the building.

“Police forced the opening of one of the doors to let students in and there was some violence with tear gas,” Ariane Anemoyannis, spokesperson for the youth group ‘Le Poing Leve,’ who was at the scene, told NBC News.

An earlier strike, organized by transport workers near the high school, was also broken up by police, said Anemoyannis.

“There were several hundred people who showed up in support of the workers,” she said, “the police charged against the picketline to break up the strike.”

Public anger in France grew when then-Prime Minister Francois Bayrou announced his plan to cut the budget by over $50 billion. He proposed striking two national holidays from the calendar, freezing pensions for 2026 and cutting billions in health spending.

The two extremes of the political spectrum joined forces in the National Assembly on Monday, causing the collapse of the French government in a no confidence vote fueled by opposition to the budget cuts.

But although Bayrou might be gone, the deep mistrust over his proposed austerity plan and the government as a whole remains.

Some are turning their sights on Macron, calling for his resignation before his tenure is scheduled to end in 2027. He named his fifth prime minister in less than two years on Tuesday, choosing close ally Sébasten Lecornu.

Many taking to the streets say they resent being asked to make sacrifices while those they describe as the ruling elite are increasingly disconnected from their reality and daily struggles.

For police, there’s an element of unpredictability: the demonstrations are decentralized and leaderless, with no specific union, organization or individual leading the charge.

On the eve of the demonstrations, the now-outgoing Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, said no violence would be tolerated and announced the deployment of 80,000 police and gendarmes — the French military police.

It’s a show of force not seen since the height of the Yellow Vests protests in 2018, sparked by Macron’s proposed fuel tax to curb carbon emissions.