22 dead marmots seized in western Mongolia

Police in western Mongolia recently seized a total of 22 dead marmots from a vehicle, which could have spread the deadly bubonic plague, the country's Ecological Police Department (EPD) said Tuesday.

"The dead marmots were found on Saturday night in a vehicle in Mankhan soum (administrative subdivision) in Khovd Province. The marmots were transferred to the province's department of zoonotic diseases for laboratory and biological tests," the EPD said in a statement.

The case is under further investigation, it added.

The bubonic plague is a bacterial disease that is spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots. The disease can kill an adult in less than 24 hours if not treated in time, according to the World Health Organization.

A couple died of bubonic plague in the western Mongolian province of Bayan-Ulgii last year after eating raw marmot meat.