Are there medicines to treat swine flu?
Yes. CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicine (pills, liquid or an inhaler) that fights the flu by keeping viruses from reproducing in your body. If you get sick, antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within two days of symptoms).
Should I take Tamiflu as a precaution if I’m not sick yet?
No. “What are you going to do with it, use it when you get a sniffle?” asks Dr. Marc Siegel of New York University Langone Medical Center and author of “Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.” Overusing antiviral drugs can help germs become resistant to them.
Tamiflu and Relenza will not work for colds, other types of flu, or other viral infections. These medicines may be used for other purposes.
Your health care provider needs to know if you have any of the following conditions: kidney disease; live in nursing home; lung or breathing disease, like asthma; serious medical condition; an unusual or allergic reaction to zanamivir, lactose, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives; pregnant or trying to get pregnant; and breast-feeding.
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July 2nd, 2009 | Tags: Disease, Swine Flu | Category: Livestock, Special Report | Leave a comment
With so much in the news about swine flu, it’s wise and imperative to now what it is, and how you can protect yourself and your loved ones to lessen your fear of swine flu.
What is swine flu?
Swine Influenza is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. Outbreaks of swine flu happen regularly in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections happen. Human cases of swine flu usually happen in people who are around pigs, but it’s also possible for swine viruses to spread from person to person. In fact, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) is recommending that the more appropriate name for the viral disease is “North-American influenza” since there has been no evidence of animal involvement.
How many swine flu viruses are there?
Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. This time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been HIN1 viruses.
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July 1st, 2009 | Tags: Disease, Swine Flu | Category: Livestock, Special Report | Leave a comment
Legumes are the richest and cheapest common source of protein among all foods of plant origin. Protein found in legumes is a cheap substitute for fish, chicken, pork, and other meats. Aside from being an important food in the human diet, legumes are also good supplementary feed for livestock and poultry.
Legumes-soybean, mungbean, peanut, string bean, winged bean, to name a few - are special kinds of plants. They have the ability to hide bacteria in their roots, which form nodules (numerous rounded masses in the roots). The bacteria present in these nodules catch nitrogen from the air and transform it into usable form and supply it to the soil to be used by the next crop.
“Though nitrogen is abundant in nature - cycling between the atmosphere, soil and living organisms-it is only directly available to plants when converted through biological or industrial processes to certain forms, primarily ammonium and nitrate,” explains Lindsay Watkins, seed bank manager of the Florida-based Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO).
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July 1st, 2009 | Tags: Legumes, Mungbean, Protein | Category: Livestock, Other Crops, Poultry | Leave a comment
The Philippine Coconut Authority(PCA) has discovered new parasitoid insects which could help control the dreaded Brontispa longissima which has previously attacked more than 1.6 million coconut trees nationwide. This was announced by PCA administrator Oscar G. Garin.
Brontispa is a beetle that feeds on the emerging leaves of coconut trees, seriously damaging them and making them unproductive. In severe situations, the trees could be killed.
“Our research center in Davao City has identified two indigenous small insects that parasitize Brontispa by laying their eggs in the larva or pupa of the pest,” Garin said during the recent Brontispa in-house evaluation and action planning session held at the PCA in Quezon City.
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July 1st, 2009 | Tags: Brontispa, Coco Pest, Insects, Parasites, PCA, Research | Category: Special Report | Leave a comment
A project on growing high-value vegetables under contoured sloping areas is being implemented in Brgy. Masunoy and Brgy. Candungaw in San Isidro, Bohol.
This is a joint project of the local government (LGU) of San Isidro, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, East-West Seed Company and the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
According to Daisy Monreal, technology transfer technologist of East-West Seed Company, they will showcase the improved techniques of growing high-value vegetables in sloping fields that are contoured to prevent erosion of the soil.
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June 30th, 2009 | Tags: Bohol, East-West, Farmers, Hybrid, Veggies | Category: Farming, Vegetables | Leave a comment
Most people, when they talk about cashew, refer only to the nuts. Perhaps this is due to the growing popularity of cashew nuts as snack food and an ingredient in baked products, so it is considered as the most important product from cashew.
Palawan is considered the cashew capital of the Philippines, supplying 90 percent of the country’s nut requirement. In Roxas, for instance, there are 1,161,576 fruit-bearing trees producing an average of 13,938 metric tons of nuts.
Due to the abundance of this fruit, cashew is the major One-Town, One-Product (OTOP) of Palawan. OTOP is 1 priority program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs by promoting a specific product or service with competitive advantage in each city and municipality. And for this program, Palawan has planted 24,300 hectares to cashew in 2004.
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June 30th, 2009 | Tags: Cashew, Prune, Wine | Category: Other Crops | Leave a comment
With the cost of fertilizer spiraling up, meeting nutrient requirement of rice crop becomes doubly burdensome.
According to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, a fanner spent close to P13,000 on the average in 2005-2007 dry season (DS) cropping, and 34 percent of this or P4,500 was spent on fertilizers. Many farmers, however, failed to apply the needed fertilizers due to financial constraints. While some managed to loan from banks or simply borrowed money from fellow farmers, fertilizer application was already late and affected crop performance.
For instance, nitrogen use can be_ optimized through “selection of proper fertilizer rates and sources, correct fertilizer placement, and optimum timing of applications,” according to the article “An Overview of Nutrient Management with Economic Considerations” published by the North Carolina State University. This shows that it is not enough that a farmer applies fertilizer because the amount and timing of application arc equally important.
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June 29th, 2009 | Tags: Fertilizer, MOET, PalayCheck, PhilRice | Category: Rice | Comments (1)
Henry Ballesteros was reviewing for the board exam when he was asked by his friend to attend some seminars on rice production. But his interest in it got deeper that he decided to go back to Isabela to become a seed grower. Well, it seems that he has made a very good decsion because today he is one of the successful seed growers in Isabela.
A graduate of Technological University of the Philippines, Henry hosts experiments by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and private companies in his farm in San Andres, Aurora, Isabela. One of these was the Farmer-led Extension Program of DA in 2008 in which he was a Palay Check cooperator of.
He also holds farmers’ field day so other farmers can take a look at his farm, and attends seminars on rice production. So from these he sees which technologies really work. In fact he has practically Tried most of the technologies demonstrated in his farm.
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June 29th, 2009 | Tags: Farming, Isabela, Rice, Seed, Seed Grower | Category: Farming, Rice | Leave a comment
The leading proponents of the organic product sector have united to launch the One Organic Movement as part of their thrust to push further development of organic agriculture in the Philippines.
Comprising the group are the Philippine Development Assistance Program (PDAP), La Liga Pilipinas/Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, Organic Producers Trade Association, Organic Certification Center of the Philippines, Altertrade, Infanta Community Development Association Inc., Don Bosco Foundation for Sustainable Development, SIAD Initiatives in Mindanao Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development, and the Philippine Network of Rural Development Institutes, Inc.
Jerry E. Pacturan, executive director of PDAP said that the launch of the One Organic Movement was a major step in presenting a united front to convince government to give more support to organic agriculture.
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June 28th, 2009 | Tags: Organic, Organization | Category: Farming, Organic | Comments (1)
Pest Infestation, if not properly managed, could lead up to 30 percent loss in potential yield, according to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
In line with this, in a study conducted at PhilRice in Agusan where the climate is either wet or very wet, a group of researchers led by agronomist Frencisco Varquez found that damage from pest results in a yield as low as 4.3 tons per hectare in an area where a highest yield of 7 tons per hectare can be achieved.
In this experiment titled “Targeting On-Farm Rice Yield for Site-Specific Nutrient Management Using the PalayCheck Minus-One Key Check,” the researchers allowed the infestation to get severe to determine the level of yield loss when no pest management practice is exercised.
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June 28th, 2009 | Tags: PalayCheck, Pest, Rice | Category: Farming, Rice | Leave a comment
More and more knowledge and experience is being gained on how probiotics should be used to give reliable results. Through a more exact knowledge of the mode of action of each individual probiotic, it will be possible to make further improvements.
In spite of the unknown data on the physiology of the gut microflora, from the results obtained with probiotic use, we are beginning to understand more about the variations involved. Indeed, despite their present low efficiency, it can be a starting point to achieve more efficient microbial strains, thanks to today’s biotechnological processes.
The use of foods derived from microbial activity goes back to the dawn of human civilisation and fermented milks were probably the first foods to contain active microorganisms. The beneficial effect of fermented milk was given a scientific basis at the beginning of the twentieth century by Elie Metchnikoff. Interest in the gut microflora revived after the Second World War and it the necessity that the microbial cells be viable. Probiotics are live micro-organisms that, when administered through the digestive route, are favourable to the host’s health.
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June 27th, 2009 | Tags: Chicken, NUTRACEUTICALS, Probiotics | Category: Poultry | Comments (4)
Following the phenomenal success of its Pangasius(Cream Dory) fish production, Vitarich, the country’s leading producer of Dory products and services has gone further into commercial food production and processing by producing fish-based meat flavored food products.
In its effort to captivate the discriminating Pinoy palate, the company has successfully integrated Dory fish meat into all-time Filipino food favorites such as tocino, longanisa (garlic and sweet and spicy flavors), Hungarian sausage (original and spicy flavors), shanghai, franks and nuggets.
Vitarich is excited to explore the vast potential of Dory meat which is easier to produce and offers a healthier alternative to the red and white meat derived from hogs and cattle, says Vitarich chairman Rogelio Sarmiento. “We have taken our Pangasius farming a step further by devising ways of infusing Dory meat into popular items of the Filipino menu.”
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June 26th, 2009 | Tags: Cream Dory, Dory, Fish, Meat Products, Nuggets, Pangasius, Vitarich | Category: Aquaculture | Leave a comment
The World Bamboo Organization (WBO) is dedicated to promoting the use of bamboo and bamboo products for the sake of the environment and the economy. We play a crucial networking role by connecting people for useful collaborations on all things related to bamboo.
We are very excited by the great opportunity to organize the VIII World Bamboo Congress in Thailand in September, 2009. The dates will be set for 16-19 September, which coincides with the 113th Anniversary of the Royal Forest Department on the 18th of September.
This truly unique conference is the culmination of our efforts to physically unite bamboo enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world and especially throughout Thailand and south-east Asia. Since its inception in Puerto Rico in 1984, each World Bamboo Congress has convened a vast array of individuals, institutions, businesses, and decision makers, and has created new partnerships that have made a real difference for the environment and human communities around the world. The WBC in Thailand promises to be the most ambitious international bamboo event ever. It will be uniquely informative, educational, culturally and intellectually challenging. The event will highlight the state-of-the-art in bamboo science, technology and industry. It will be a forum to stimulate the dialog between researchers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, ecologists, and policy makers. It will help bridge the gap between supply and demand, need and fulfillment, producer and consumer, problem and solution.
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June 26th, 2009 | Tags: Bamboo, Congress, Events | Category: Events, Forest Trees | Leave a comment
Many farmers believe that it is costly to plant on time. It’s because the cost of labor increases due to labor shortage caused by the high demand for farm work. So they tend to plant early or late to save on labor. But are they really saving money with this practice? No.
A PhilRice Study in 2008 showed that not practicing synchronous planting or planting on time, which is the third key check of the PalayCheck System, results in a yield as low as 4.3 tons per hectare (t/ha). This is due to pest infestation, which the occurrence of can be limited by following this key check.
According to Dr. Rolando Cruz, leader of the PalayCheck System project and a scientist at PhilRice, planting on time does not only help farmers achieve key check 3 but also key check 7, which underscores pest management. And because synchronous planting limits the occurrence of pests, he adds, it also reduces the expenses on pesticides as well as the labor that goes with it.
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June 26th, 2009 | Tags: Farming, Palay, PalayaCheck, Rice | Category: Farming, Rice | Leave a comment
Jellyfishes are marine invertebrates known as scyphozoans with gelatinous bodies that swimmers avoid in the sea because of their stinging tentacles that can cause skin irritations and even death. While not popular as a food item among Filipinos, jellyfishes have been eaten as a traditional product by the Chinese for over a thousand years and are imported by Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong from Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines.
With the assistance of Prof. Rodrigo Camacho, Jr. of the Palawan State University’s Bio-Diversity Center for Research and Conservation, we learned more about the jellyfish industry of Malampaya Sound in Taytay, Palawan.
Of the six kinds of jellyfish in Malampaya Sound, the Lion’s Mane (Lobonema smithi) is the biggest and has high commercial value, according to Prof. Camacho. It is harvested in February to March by more than 1,500 fisherfolk from the 7 barangays of Malampaya Sound with motorized and non-motorized bancas using scoop nets and hooks.
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June 25th, 2009 | Tags: Jellyfish, Malampaya, Palawan | Category: Aquaculture | Leave a comment
