China has confirmed new outbreaks of African swine fever in three provincial-level regions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Monday.

In a farm in Beijing with 9,835 pigs, 85 pigs were confirmed infected with the viral disease and 17 confirmed dead, the ministry said, citing a China Animal Disease Control Center report.

Outbreaks were also found in the provinces of northwestern Shaanxi and northeastern Heilongjiang, where at least 156 pigs have been confirmed dead, it said.

Local authorities have initiated an emergency response to block, cull and disinfect the affected pigs.

After an assessment, the ministry also lifted its quarantine in a city in northeast Liaoning Province, where an African swine fever outbreak occurred in October.

The ministry has demanded local governments to step up its monitoring and take active measures to prevent recurrence of the disease.

(CGTN)