Recently, a research team from the NEFU College of Wildlife and Nature Conservation and the Key Laboratory of Wildlife Diseases, Pathogens, and Biosecurity in Heilongjiang Province, comprised of five master's students, Jiaxin Li, Hongliang Zhao, Chang Niu, Yize Wang, and Yan Su, stood out among 459 competing teams globally. They were honored with the "Special Award" in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's small ruminant diseases research this year, becoming one of four winning teams worldwide. This is the second consecutive international award for the university, following last year's win by a doctoral student team.

The award, established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aims to encourage youth to improve agricultural food systems through science and innovation, eliminate hunger, and promote global sustainable development.

Under the guidance of Professor Xiaolong Wang from the NEFU College of Wildlife and Nature Conservation and foreign faculty member Arivizhivend Han Kannan Villalan, the winning team built upon the previous year's award-winning research on the origin, potential wild hosts, and atypical host identification of small ruminant diseases. They delved into novel immunization strategies for small ruminant diseases prevalent on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to ensure the healthy development of livestock.

In Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China, the challenging terrain includes both the high-altitude, uninhabited area of Hala Lake and the extremely arid Qaidam Basin. The vast, sparsely populated land, coupled with the scattered residences of herders, makes vaccine transportation costly and prone to failure, leading to immunization failures. Additionally, the mixing of livestock with wildlife increases the risk of disease transmission, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced immunization.

Collaborating with the Qinghai Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, the Qinghai Provincial Animal Disease Control Center, and the Haixi Prefectural Animal Disease Control Center, the team adopted a pulse vaccination strategy. They conducted herd vaccinations in various regions around Hala Lake and the Qaidam Basin, providing short-term immunity to animals, reducing disease outbreaks and transmission. This research not only helps understand the specific effects of pulse vaccination on livestock health and antibody production but also provides insights for developing new vaccine immunization strategies. It also offers thoughts and evidence on the transmission mechanism and effective control of diseases between livestock and wildlife.

Over the past two years, to reach remote vaccination sites inaccessible by vehicles, team members often endured hours of intense, load-bearing hiking, experiencing headaches and vomiting due to lack of oxygen. They also faced blizzards, with vehicles getting stranded at over 4,000 meters altitude in the mountains at night. Despite these challenges, their commitment to scientific discovery remained unwavering, and they successfully completed their research tasks.