A GMA Flash Report said the the DTI noted that current prices of chicken had gone up by P10 per kilogram from P110 to P120.

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

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

Mr 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.

The Department of Health (DoH) said that while the cases show that the virus could have been transferred from pig to human, it assured that the hog farmers are in healthy condition.

Aside from the virus scare, Mr Maglaya said that the “tight" supply of chicken feed in the market had also contributed to the price increase.

But meat was not the only basic commodity that became more expensive, according to the DTI, as rice prices have likewise gone up by an average of P2 per kilogram.