February 13, 2009

Philippine pork and chicken price spikes following ebola scare

The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the Ebola Reston virus scare has increased the prices of chicken and pork sold in public markets, a television report said Friday (Feb 13).

Local media said DTI noted that current prices of chicken had gone up by P10 per kilogramme from P110 to P120.

Meanwhile, DTI said that pork prices also spiked by as much as P30 per kilogram from the previous P140 to P150 to the current P180.

DTI undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said the price adjustments were triggered by consumers shifting from eating pork to chicken.

Maglaya attributed this shift to the fear sowed by the recent discovery of a number of hog farm workers from Bulacan and Pampanga being previously exposed to the virus.

He added that aside from the virus scare, shortage of chicken feed in the market had also contributed to the price increase.

US$1 = P47.06 (Feb 13)