Celebrating A Different Species Of Asian Swine Fever – You Be Too!

From ANN, this news: "Chinese Study Unlocks Clues In The Relatively Unknown African Swine Fever Virus" (Author Not Named, 21 October 2019, Global Times, globaltimes.cn):

The research shows the virus has a unique structure of five layers: the outer membrane, the capsid, a double-layer inner membrane, a core-shell and genome. It contains more than 30,000 protein subunits, forming a spherical particle with a diameter of about 260 nanometers.

Now, do we wait for further developments?

Rao Zihe, a CAS academician and one of the leading scientists of the research, said unveiling the structure of African swine fever is the first important step in the "long march" to tackle the disease. Researchers will continue to analyze the structure of the virus's core-shell, and how the virus interacts with receptors.

Note: "Long march" – With that Asian swine fever, we have a long, long way to go for a vaccine.

In the meantime, I suggest that we Filipinos show the rest of the world that we can cultivate a different kind of Asian swine fever:
Go grow native pigs!

The above image is titled "Bagnet: Love Made In Ilocos" from binivinni.wordpress.com. It is a differently cooked pork belly. I native Ilocano just love bagnet – which I prefer to the lechon kawali of the Tagalogs.

Native? That reminds me of the 200-page book I edited & desktop published, and authored by Rene Santiago, Angel Lambio and Karen Dimaranan published in March 2016 by the National Swine & Poultry Research & Development Center of the Bureau of Animal Industry, BAI, which is under the Department of Agriculture, DA – Philippine Native Animals.

Considering the pesky Asian swine fever, the growing of Philippine native pigs is not only patriotic but intelligent! Why? From pages 94-95 of the book:

The Philippine native pigs… have the ability to survive and reproduce under natural environment with minimal inputs and the meager resources of small-scale farmers in terms of animal inputs like land, feeds, and housing fits the requirements of native pigs.

In view of the Asian swine fever raging all over Asia, I would like to encourage a Pinoy swine fever with any of the native pigs the BAI has in its collection: Abra, Kalinga, Marinduque, Mt Province, Tiaong, andQuezon.

From the book's back cover:

To encourage backyard raising and commercial undertakings in the country, this book… was conceived to present the business & livelihood realities and potentials of 7 native species, which are: carabao, cattle, chickens, ducks, goats, horses, and pigs – the plurals indicate 2 or more species or strains. Local residents and now tourists from other lands know that the slow growth of native animals gives us meats & eggs of poultry and meats & milks of livestock that are far more flavorful and mouth-watering, as well as more healthful than those of imported breeds that are given growth hormones to hasten their growth. And more and more local animal raisers now realize that the native species are easier to raise and far more economical than their exotic counterparts.

So? Go native, pigs!@517