Nearly thirty thousand pigs have died from African swine fever in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia as of Dec. 15, according to government officials and reported by Reuters. The officials said the outbreak has caused millions of dollars of economic losses while efforts are being made to quarantine affected areas.

Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry officially declared an outbreak of the contagious virus in the country last week, saying that it was contained in only some parts of North Sumatra province.

"Very serious handling is being carried out, including isolating those areas,”Syahrul Yasin Limpo, Minister of Agriculture, told reporters.

The Director of animal health at the Agriculture Ministry said that African swine fever was found in 16 areas throughout North Sumatra and that authorities were taking steps to keep the virus from spreading.