Trials of new wombat mange drug offer hope for 'massive' breakthrough
By Rhiannon ShineInitial trials of an exciting new drug to treat mange in wombats are showing promising signs, offering hope that an end to their suffering could be in sight.
Sarcoptic mange is caused by skin-burrowing parasites which causes hair loss and usually leads to a slow, painful death.
University of Tasmania wildlife ecologist Scott Carver said it was the most severe disease he had seen in animals.
"Wombats lose hair, they become irritated, they are not able to sleep properly and, ultimately, they are fighting a losing battle," he said.
For the past three weeks a new drug has been tested on healthy wombats at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary as part of a three-month trial to assess its safety and determine how long it can protect the species against the disease.
Dr Carver said while existing treatments lasted about a week, the new drug — the name of which is being kept confidential until the testing is complete — could make wombats resistant to mange for up to three months.
"We are giving it to healthy wombats at the moment; ones that do not suffer mange," he said.
"We are collecting blood from these individuals every week for about three months to look at how fast they metabolise this drug and also assess some other measures of their health.
"The trials have been going fantastically.
"The wombats have been behaving completely normally, their health by all sorts of measures is completely normal — it could not be going better."
After the three-month trial is complete, researchers will test the drug on mange-affected wombats in captivity.
Dr Carver said the drug would be ready for use on wild wombats in about a year.
He said it would be administered topically using existing treatment methods such as smearing it on burrow flaps.
'Pumped' about the prospect of success
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary director Greg Irons said he was "pumped" the trials had started.
"The hope is that this is a massive game changer," he said.
"You hear so many varying reports on how successful the current drug they use is but my research suggests that while it might provide some relief short-term, it is not a long-term solution.
"If it [the new drug] has the effects that we hope it does on helping these poor old wombats out there, how can you not be pumped about that?
"It is really exciting."
Mr Irons said he had no concerns about allowing Bonorong's resident wombats to take part in the trials.
"This drug has been used with other species, we obviously looked very carefully into that," he said.
"We knew that there was very, very small risk of there being any challenges from it.
"And I think if we were to ask the wombats, and they had the ability to speak, I think they would be quite happy to do something like this in order to help the other species out there in the wild."