Mongolian police have seized 24 dead marmots from a vehicle, which could have spread the bubonic plague, the country’s Traffic Police Department said on Monday.

The dead marmots were found over the weekend in a vehicle heading to the capital city of Ulan Bator, the police department said in a statement.

While hunting marmots is illegal in Mongolia, many Mongolians have ignored the law and regarded rodents as a delicacy.

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The bubonic plague is a bacterial disease spread by fleas living on wild rodents such as marmots and can kill an adult within 24 hours if not treated in time.

This is according to the World Health Organization