Malaysian troops have begun shooting tens of thousands of pigs in an attempt to eradicate a disease which has killed more than fifty people.

The slaughter, in the south-western state of Negri Sembilan, will take ten days to complete and hundreds of families have been evacuated from the area while the killing goes on.

There's no cure for the condition caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus, which is transmitted from pigs to humans by mosquitos.

The authorities have also said that they've detected a previously unknown strain of the virus, and experts from the United States are to be brought in to investigate the illness.

In another development, neighbouring Thailand has banned all imports of pigs and pork from Malaysia.