News media from India are reporting that African swine fever has been detected in the country's northeastern state of Assam, where the disease is said to have killed around 2,500 pigs.

“The National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, has confirmed that it is African swine fever (ASF). The central government has informed us that it is the first instance of the disease in the country,” animal husbandry minister Atul Bora said in a May 3 press conference, the media outlets reported.

The Assam animal husbandry department noted that a 2019 census determined that there were about 2.1 million pigs in Assam, which lies roughly between Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Media outlets in the region are also reporting that the virus had been found earlier in the year in a village in Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China.

"The disease was detected during the last part of February. However, it started in April 2019 in China at a village of Xizang province bordering Arunachal Pradesh. It is suspected that the disease crossed over to Arunachal Pradesh and then reached Assam," Boar was quoted as saying.

As of May 4, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) had not yet issued a notification of the India outbreak through its World Animal Health Information System.