A six-day quarantine in Mongolia has been lifted following the death of a couple who died from the bubonic plague after eating raw marmot meat as a “folk remedy for good health.”

BBC reports that this quarantine kept a number of tourists locked down in the area along the borders of China and Russia for nearly a week. The outlet reports that the quarantine started on May 1, and that a spokesperson with the World Health Organization confirmed that the couple had consumed raw marmot meat and kidney.

Ariuntuya Ochirpurev of the WHO also confirmed that 118 people had come into contact with the Mongolian couple, and that they were quarantined and treated.

Sebastian Pique, an American Peace Corps volunteer in the region, told AFP that the streets in the area have been clear due to those being afraid of contracting the disease.

Related: Muskrats are a Lenten delicacy for some in southeast Michigan

“Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention writes on its website. "Plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. Today, modern antibiotics are effective in treating plague.

"Without prompt treatment, the disease can cause serious illness or death. Presently, human plague infections continue to occur in the western United States, but significantly more cases occur in parts of Africa and Asia.”

Plague cases reported around world 2010-2015