(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- The outbreak of African swine fever has taken 600,000 Chinese pigs' lives so far with two new Beijing outbreaks reported today.

The national swine fever epidemic situation is under control, Feng Zhongwu, chief of the animal husbandry and veterinarian bureau under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at a press conference where the bureau published the death toll.

Beijing's two farms in Fangshan district and the town of Liulihe have logged almost 90 dead hogs, the ministry said on its website today.  

The first case of African swine fever was found in China in August and there have been over 70 outbreaks since then, including one involving wild boars. These cases have spread across 20 provinces. 

African swine fever was imported from abroad, said Huang Bao, the deputy director of the China Center for Animal Health and Epidemiology. Gene tests point west to the possible origins of Georgia, Russia and Poland.

The ministry has said it will strengthen its supervision of pig transport between different provinces to suppress the highly infectious disease. 

Editor: Emmi Laine