On May 1, 2019, a couple in Mongolia died from bubonic plague after eating raw marmot meat, sparking a quarantine that trapped tourists for days.

Ariuntuya Ochirpurev, a World Health Organization official, told the BBC.

Ochirpurev told BBC that the couple ate the rodent’s raw meat and kidney, which is believed to be good for health in the area.

“After the quarantine (was announced) not many people, even locals, were in the streets for fear of catching the disease,” Sebastian Pique, an American Peace Corps volunteer in the area, told AFP.

Bubonic plague can be transmitted via infected fleas and animals, like prairie dogs, squirrels, rats and rabbits, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.