A life of combating bird flu

World-class research

Chen's laboratory in the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has been a leader in H5 avian influenza vaccine development and application.

Since 2004, more than 230 billion doses of H5N1 vaccines developed by Chen's team have been used worldwide, serving as an alternative measure for many countries that once only resorted to stamping out poultry during avian influenza outbreaks.

In 2013, Chen and her team published important and systematic findings of H7N9 viruses in Science magazine, and the study was listed among China's top 10 scientific achievements in 2013.

Given Chen's contribution to the research and control of the H7N9 bird flu, she was selected as one of the "10 people who mattered in science" by the journal Nature in 2013.

World-class research findings are based on enormous efforts.

Chen's team conducted large-scale monitoring of bird flu viruses twice a year. They stepped into poultry farms and markets across the country and collected samples from live chickens' throats and cloacae.

In 2017 alone, they collected 53,000 samples. The samples were soon brought to the laboratory for virus isolation and analysis.

"Viruses do not sleep. They are constantly mutating. A small mutation could trigger new risks," Chen said. "We cannot let down our guard."