Investigating Avian Influenza Infection Hotspots in Old- World Shorebirds

In this study the authors, including our own Bouba Fofana of our Mali Office and Associate Expert Tim Dodman, looked for Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) hotspots associated with other shorebird species and/or with some of the larger congregation sites of shorebirds in the old world. They assembled and analysed a regionally extensive dataset of AIV prevalence from 69 shorebird species sampled in 25 countries across Africa and Western Eurasia. Despite this diverse and extensive coverage we did not detect any new shorebird AIV hotspots. Neither large shorebird congregation sites nor the ruddy turnstone were consistently associated with AIV hotspots.