A strain of avian flu that is resistant to the antiviral drug oseltamivir has been isolated from two family members in Egypt, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

The development is potentially dangerous because oseltamivir, commonly sold under the name Tamiflu, is the chief weapon against the flu strain, H5N1, which many worry could mutate into a strain that could set off a worldwide pandemic.

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If an oseltamivir-resistant strain spreads, it will complicate the public health response. Governments have been stockpiling oseltamivir, not zanamir. Zanamir is more expensive and also harder to use and to ship, because it is typically sold not as a pill but as a powder that comes in an inhaler resembling a small hockey puck.

[Source: NY Times]

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