BEIJING - China has confirmed a new outbreak of African swine fever in its northeast province of Heilongjiang, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Wednesday.

On a local farm with 73,000 pigs in Mingshui county of Suihua city, 4,686 pigs were confirmed infected with the viral disease and 3,766 confirmed dead, the ministry said, citing a China Animal Disease Control Center report.

A team was dispatched to Heilongjiang immediately, and local authorities have initiated an emergency response to block, cull and disinfect affected pigs.

Transport of all pigs and related products out of or into the blockade zone is forbidden, the ministry added.

African swine fever is believed to infect only pigs, and no humans or other species have thus far been infected.

China reported its first case of the disease in August in the northeast province of Liaoning. Later outbreaks were reported in several other provincial regions.