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Canadians are being warned by Health Canada to be careful buying Tamiflu online and to avoid anything called "generic Tamiflu" because generic versions of the anti-viral drug don't exist.
Tamiflu is known as the best weapon in the fight against avian or bird flu.
Health Canada put out the warning Friday after reports from the United Kingdom that many websites -- including two Canadian ones -- have been selling illegal Tamiflu to people in the United Kingdom.
Health Canada said other reports also indicate the U.S. Customs Border Patrol stopped more than 50 shipments of counterfeit Tamiflu at their border. The health agency and the RCMP are investigating these reports.
"There's no indication of counterfeit (Tamiflu) in Canada at this time," Jirina Vlk, media spokesperson for Health Canada, said.
"We're warning Canadians that it could be here."
Health Canada is telling Canadians to buy Tamiflu with a prescription from a doctor they know, at a pharmacy where they have a previous relationship.
People concerned about any Tamiflu they've bought should bring the drug to a pharmacy, their doctor or the drug manufacturer, Swiss firm Roche AG.
This latest concern about Tamiflu comes the day after a New England Journal of Medicine report suggested the drug may not be a failsafe defence against the avian flu.
The authors of the report say they have found evidence the H5N1 virus can mutate into a form unaffected by Tamiflu -- rendering the world's ever-growing stockpiles of the drug ineffective if the mutated strain were to spread.
While drugs such as Tamiflu don't cure bird flu, experts hope they will help reduce its severity if taken early enough.
Bird flu has not yet appeared in North America and there is no proof that it can spread from person to person. But officials worry that if the virus mutates, it could become as contagious as the annual flu, but much more deadly.
Since 2004, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 71 people in Asia. According to figures updated by the World Health Organization on Dec. 16, there have been at least 139 human cases, including 95 this year alone.