Fighting Fake Flu Pills

Avian flu claimed more lives last week. In eastern Turkey, initial tests showed at least two of the three deceased siblings from the Kocyigit family had succumbed to the virus’ dreaded H5N1 strain, becoming its first human victims outside East Asia. As fears of a pandemic continue to grow, customs and health official’s are struggling to halt a burgeoning trade in counterfeit forms of Tamiflu, the only drug approved to treat the disease. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials tell TIME that last week their officers seized 250 separate parcels of suspect Tamiflu at the airmail facility in New York City — the biggest interception to date — and one package in Chicago. The New York shipments came from the island of Mauritius and were probably destined for American consumers wanting to stock up in case of a pandemic.

Officials expect more—and bigger—seizures of fake Tamiflu. “We believe they will continue to go up dramatically,” says CBP’s William Heffelfinger. If past experience is any guide, the pills will contain no more than trace elements of Tamiflu’s active ingredient. Less than a month ago, authorities in San Francisco announced the confiscation of 51 packages of phony Tamiflu ordered through the Internet and shipped from Asia. Tests on those pills found only harmless ingredients, but experts worry that in an outbreak, people might take such pills and consider themselves protected.

The World Health Organization, which has recorded 76 human deaths from H5N1 since 2003, discourages individuals from hoarding Tamiflu since there is a global shortage and those who can afford it are unlikely to be most vulnerable. Tamiflu’s manufacturer, Roche, has promised to increase production tenfold from its 2004 level, to 300 million 10-pill courses by the end of 2007. A rush order of 100,000 courses was sent last week to Turkey, where 20 people with symptoms of bird flu remained hospitalized, including the last surviving sibling in the Kocyigit family.