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El Salvador to probe into anti-flu drug theft

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-11 11:27

MEXICO CITY -- The Salvadorian authorities will investigate the sales of suspected stolen anti-flu drugs, according to news reports.

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Some 170 doses of Tamiflu, a drug which has been proved effective in the fight against the A(H1N1) influenza, had been stolen from government warehouses where 10,120 doses are stockpiled, Salvadorian Health Minister Isabel Rodriguez said Wednesday.

The drugs were donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization after the country reported 2 A(H1N1) flu cases in May.

Salvadorian media said the stolen drugs may have a market price of US$100 per course.

The country now has 69 cases of the flu, but no deaths have been reported, officials said.

According to the WHO, the A(H1N1) flu has already killed 141 people worldwide. More than 27, 700 people in 74 countries and regions have been infected.