BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) -

* China has confirmed a new outbreak of African swine fever in the southwestern province of Sichuan as the highly contagious disease spreads through the world’s largest hog herd

* The outbreak in Zoigê county, Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, killed 78 animals on a farm of 429 pigs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on Monday

* China has reported more than 120 outbreaks of the incurable disease in all of its mainland provinces and regions, as well as Hainan island and Hong Kong, since it was first detected in the country in early August (Reporting by Hallie Gu and Shivani Singh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)