Tibet reports first outbreak of African swine fever

China on Sunday confirmed the first outbreak of African swine fever in the Tibet autonomous region, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The highly contagious disease was detected in Nyingchi city's Dragyiv district, Kongpo'gyada county and Bomi county, killing a total of 55 hogs as of late Sunday, the ministry said in a statement. Ningchi city is in southeastern Tibet.

The ministry said emergency response mechanism, including quarantine and culling measures, has been activated in the disease-stricken region.

This is the fourth outbreak of African swine fever in April in China. The other three cases occurred in Lichuan city of Hubei province, Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Shangri-La in Yunnan province.