Agents seize 52 packages of counterfeit Tamiflu capsules
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Customs agents have intercepted more than 50 shipments of counterfeit Tamiflu, the anti-viral drug being stockpiled in anticipation of a bird flu pandemic, marking the first such seizures in the United States, authorities said Sunday.
The first package was intercepted Nov. 26 at an air-mail facility near San Francisco International Airport, said Roxanne Hercules, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Since then, agents have seized 51 separate packages, each containing up to 50 counterfeit capsules labeled generic Tamiflu.
The fake drugs had none of Tamiflu's active ingredients, and officials were running tests to determine what the capsules did contain.
Information on the packages was written in Chinese, Elder said.
The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has ravaged poultry stocks in Asia and killed at least 71 people since 2003.
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