South Africa rushes to register bird flu drug
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South Africa will fast-track registration of the antiviral avian flu drug Tamiflu to prepare for any outbreak of the potentially fatal virus, the Health Department said on Friday.
“We are in the process of registering the drug… we have some stocks but we cannot stockpile it until it has been registered,” department spokesman Solly Mabotha said.
“It can take up to two years to register a drug but we are trying to cut all of the corners to get this registered in the shortest time possible,” he said.
He added that the drug could still be administered in an emergency before it is registered.
Tamiflu, an antiviral drug, is made by Roche, while GlaxoSmithKline produces a rival product, Relenza.
The European Commission has advised its member states to stockpile the drugs as fears grow of a wider epidemic after a deadly strain of bird flu spread to Europe from Asia, where it has killed more than 60 people since 2003.
Migratory birds, usually wild ducks, are a natural reservoir of avian influenza viruses and do not usually become sick when infected.
There have been no reports of avian flu in Africa but the birds’ migration pattern would take them to warmer areas in North Africa, including the Nile delta for winter. Avian flu is currently transmitted to humans only if they eat or live in close contact with infected birds. But scientists fear the H5N1 strain is mutating towards a form that could pass between humans.
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