Three suspected cases tested negative for bubonic plague in Mongolia’s capital, the country’s National Center for Zoonotic Diseases.

The samples were taken from three people who have recently eaten marmot meat in the eastern provinces of Khentii and Sukhbaatar. Although hunting marmots is illegal in Mongolia, many people regard the rodent as a delicacy and ignore the law.

On 8 August, one case of bubonic plague was confirmed in Ulan Bator, home to over half of the country’s 3.4 million population.

Seventeen out of all the 21 Mongolian provinces are now at risk of the bubonic plague, the agency said, warning the public against eating the meat.

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