Many market vendors in Metro Manila noticed a drop in pork sales following the H1N1 influenza outbreak.
 
Aling Josie for one used to have almost all her supply sold out by noon, but now it takes until nightfall to sell all her pork products.
 
Many consumers now prefer to buy chicken, afraid that they may contract the disease by eating pork.

Other meat vendors, meanwhile, are forced to think of other ways to sell their products.     
 
 "Bina-barbecue ko na lang, at least yun, mabenta pa," says Aling Linda, a pork vendor.
 
But authorities stress that eating pork is not a cause of infection.
 
Authorities identified the new flu strain as a combination of human, avian and swine influenza.
 
But the National Federation of Hog Farmers says the disease should be called by its official name, influenza A(H1N1) and not swine flu, since it has not yet been established that the virus came from hogs.

As of posting, there were no reported cases of infections in the country.

But a ban on the importation of pigs from countries that are positive of the virus like Mexico, the United States, and Canada remains.
                
Even in the United Arab Emirates, importing pig has been banned.

Many Filipinos there have resorted to stocking more pork to ensure supply. 
 
In Cairo, Egypt at least 300,000 pigs were ordered slaughtered to avoid contamination despite no reported cases of infections yet.