BEIJING, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of African swine fever has been discovered in the city of Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Thursday.

Pigs were found dead from unknown causes on a farm in Nanling County in Wuhu when local authorities were checking for African swine fever Wednesday. On Thursday, the case was confirmed as an African swine fever outbreak, the ministry said.

Among the 459 pigs on the farm, 185 have so far been affected and 80 have died.

The agricultural ministry has sent teams to Anhui, where local authorities have initiated an emergency response mechanism to block, cull, and disinfect the affected pigs.

The situation is now under control, said the ministry.

Earlier this month, an outbreak of African swine fever was discovered in a farm in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province. It was China's first outbreak of the disease.

African swine fever is a highly contagious, viral disease that infects pigs. It does not affect humans or other animal species.