Two Moscow Region residents have been hospitalized, twelve of their relatives are on ambulant treatment after coming into contacting with a rabid moose, the Life News tabloid website wrote on Monday.

Forester Sergei Fioktistov, 50, and game specialists Alexander Mikhnuk found a moose in distress near a road in Odintsovo district, the news portal said. They decided the animal was injured and brought it home.

The family members of Mikhnuk and Fioktistov helped them cut the animal’s corpse. However, no injuries were found and the hunters turned to the local sanitary control service.

After testing the animal’s corpse, the service said that the moose died of rabies.

Mikhnuk and Fioktistov were hospitalized, their relatives were vaccinated and the corpse of the moose was burned.

Rabies is a usually fatal infectious disease of warm-blooded animals caused by a virus that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It can be prevented in humans by a vaccine.