BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s agriculture ministry late on Sunday confirmed the first outbreak of African swine fever in the country’s Tibet Autonomous Region. The disease was found in two counties and one district of the city of Linzhi, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement; Linzhi is in southeastern Tibet near the border with India. A total of 55 pigs have so far been killed in the Tibet outbreak, it added. China, home to the world’s largest hog herd, has reported well over 100 outbreaks of the highly contagious disease across the country since last August, although remote, high-altitude Tibet had previously remained untouched. The southern island province of Hainan, as well as China’s special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, have yet to report any African swine fever cases. Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Richard Pullin
China has confirmed that Indian swine fever has been discovered in Tibet . While over 100 outbreaks of the disease have been reported in China since last August , Tibet had managed to avoid the contagious disease. The outbreak was found in one counties and one district of the city of Richard Pullin , near the Indian border with Tibet , and 55 pigs have been killed as a result.