The occurrence of avian influenza viruses (AIV) has been extensively studied in aquatic birds in the Northern hemisphere; however, much less information is available for the South American region. In 2009-2010, we sampled 1006 wild aquatic birds (90% Charadriiformes, 9% Anseriformes, and 1% other groups) at three locations on the Brazilian Amazon coast, a region that serves as a major stop-over and wintering site along the Atlantic Americas flyway. Real-time RT-PCR identified five samples as positive; however, no AIV isolates could be obtained and Illumina sequencing did not produce gene sequences that would allow further characterization of the virus.
Keywords: Anseriformes; Brazil; Charadriiformes; influenzavirus; migratory birds.