TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Coast Guard Administration destroyed the carcass of a pig believed to have floated ashore on the Matsu island of Beigan close to China, reports said Friday.

The find came as a suspected case of African swine fever is believed to have occurred at a hog farm in Taichung. As a result, Taiwan has introduced a ban on the transport, slaughtering, and feeding of pigs with kitchen waste across the country.

Since the campaign against African swine fever began in 2018, the Coast Guard has recorded 178 instances of pig carcasses being found on Taiwan’s outlying islands, the Liberty Times reported. In the latest incident, a member of the public reported the sighting of a dead pig on a Beigan beach at 3:44 p.m. on Thursday.

The Coast Guard closed down the site and called in officials from the county government and the local animal health department. They completed the required procedure taking samples, burning the carcass, and burying the remains by 8:10 p.m., the Coast Guard said.