BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China identified two new outbreaks of African swine fever in eastern provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Monday.

In the city of Xuancheng, Anhui Province, 152 of the 308 pigs on a farm in the Xuanzhou district were confirmed to be infected and 83 died, the ministry cited a report from the China Animal Disease Control Center.

In a separate statement, the ministry said the disease was discovered on a farm in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, where 12 of the 97 pigs were confirmed to be infected and nine died.

The ministry said local authorities in both cases have initiated an emergency response mechanism to block, cull and disinfect the affected pigs.

The outbreaks are now under effective control, said the ministry.

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

As of Saturday, more than 38,000 pigs had been culled nationwide since the first outbreak was discovered in Liaoning Province last month, ministry spokesperson Guang Defu said Sunday.