AKIPRESS.COM - China’s customs said on Thursday it has banned pigs, wild boars, and products from Mongolia after the Asian country reported African swine fever outbreaks in mid-January, Reuters  reports.

The ban, effective Tuesday, came as China battles the world’s fastest-spreading epidemic of the deadly disease on its own land, which has reached 25 of its provinces since early August and led to culling of more than 900,000 pigs.

The new rule was put in place to prevent the deadly virus from spreading to China from Mongolia, and protect the domestic livestock sector, China’s General Administration of the Customs said in a statement published on its website.

China has not approved the import of the Mongolian pork. However, meat is often smuggled into China.