The animal disease control team in Jiangjin district of Southwest China's Chongqing confirmed the presence of African swine fever in seized live pigs illegally transferred from other provinces on Friday.

At the time of the seizure, there were 24 pigs in this batch, four of them sick and one dead, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The Chongqing Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center confirmed that the disease was detected in the illegally transferred live pigs at the Luohuang Expressway Service Area in Jiangjin district.?

After detection, local authorities initiated an emergency response as required, culling all live pigs in this batch with harmless treatment, as well as thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting relevant places, roads and transportation vehicles.

At present, the case has been transferred to the police. Investigation and respective work regarding the infected pigs is underway.

China has stepped up the regulation of hog transport to further contain the spread of African swine fever.

Starting on July 1, companies and individuals that transport hogs have been required to register their basic personal information with a mini-program on WeChat, which is managed by the national animal disease control authorities, according to the ministry.

Thanks to the strict control measures, the number of reported cases of African swine fever has been dwindling since late 2018, Han Changfu, minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, noted in May.