SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China reported two new outbreaks of African swine fever in the Inner Mongolia region and Henan provinces as the highly contagious disease, which is deadly to pigs, spreads further nationwide, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region in China’s north found 16 affected hogs, all of which died from the disease, Xinhua quoted China’s Ministry of Agriculture as saying. China’s central province of Henan had 148 hogs struck with the disease, out of which 64 died, Xinhua said.

On Thursday, the ministry said China had banned the use of food waste as pig feed in provinces that have reported African swine fever outbreaks as well as neighboring regions.

(Reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in Singapore)

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