TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) on Sunday (April 7) announced that African swine fever (ASF) has spread to Tibet, leaving only Hainan as the only province or autonomous region in China that has yet to report an outbreak of the virus.

The ministry late Sunday announced that the China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center has confirmed an outbreak of ASF in Bayi District of Nyingchi City, which is in southeastern Tibet, near the border with India. A total of 55 pigs have been reported as dying from the disease in the area thus far.

After the outbreak was confirmed, the local government has blocked off the area, culled infected hogs, and carried out disinfection measures. Live pigs and pork products have been banned from being transported into or out of the infected zone.

The latest outbreak in China came scarcely three days after the disease had been reported on April 4 in Xinjiang. Since the first case of ASF was reported on Aug. 3, 2018 in Shenyang in Liaoning Province, the disease has spread like wildfire across China.

Now, only the province of Hainan and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have yet to report an outbreak of ASF. The epidemic has had a drastic impact on the pork industry in China and led to a dramatic increase in pork prices.

Citing data from MARA, the National Business Daily reported that in March of this year, the national price for pork was 14.35 Chinese yuan per kilogram, a 14.3 percent increase from the same period last year. In Hebei, Jiangsu and other provinces, the average monthly price has increased by more than 20 percent since February.