Orders of bird flu drug unclaimed in New Zealand pharmacies

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Thousands of New Zealanders who placed orders for an influenza drug in 2005, fearing a bird flu pandemic, have left the medicine unclaimed on pharmacy shelves, officials said Monday.

Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand representative Steve Thompson said tens of thousands of doses of Tamiflu are likely sitting uncollected in pharmacies nationwide.

He said he is holding about 2,000 New Zealand dollars (US$1,500; £á1,100) in orders of the prescription drug in his pharmacy alone. A five-day Tamiflu course costs about NZ$70 (US$54; £á37).

For many people, fear of a possible bird flu pandemic has "disappeared off the radar," said guild president Steve Wise, adding that high demand meant the drug was not immediately available at the time people began to panic several years ago.

Tamiflu, manufactured by Swiss company Roche Holding AG, is an influenza drug believed to be effective against bird flu.

The virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 204 people worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. It remains difficult for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that could spread easily, sparking a pandemic that could kill millions.

Christchurch virologist Dr. Lance Jennings said people should not ignore the danger of bird flu.

"It remains a threat," he said, noting that two more people died of bird flu in Indonesia last week.

The Ministry of Health's national coordinator of emergency planning, Steve Brazier, said the government has stockpiled 1.2 million doses of Tamiflu with expirations ranging from 2011 to 2013.

The risk of an influenza pandemic remains and the ministry is planning on the basis of "when, not if" one occurs, he said.