As part of ongoing surveillance for avian influenza viruses (AIV) in Peruvian birds, in June 2008, we sampled 600 land birds of 177 species, using real-time reverse-transcription PCR. We addressed the assumption that AIV prevalence is low or nil among land birds, a hypothesis that was not supported by the results—rather, we found AIV infections at relatively high prevalences in birds of the orders Apodiformes (hummingbirds) and Passeriformes (songbirds). Surveillance programs for monitoring spread and identification of AIV should thus not focus solely on water birds.We thank ornithologists Michael Andersen, Roger Boyd, Adolfo Navarro-Siguenza, Luis Sanchez-Gonzalez, and Mark Robbins; the staff of CORBIDI, Lima, Peru, for extensive assistance with logistics associated with field sampling of birds; M. Papes¸ for assistance with maps; and A. E. Gonzalez for extending facilities and hospitality at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional.
Mayor de San Marcos. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health–Fogarty International Center, US Department of Defense AFHSC-GEIS grant GF0121_07_LI, and R.A.J.W. was supported by grant CGL2010-15734/BOS, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain, and a Tinker Field Research grant
