Woman rescued a raccoon. Now, she and 20 friends need a treatment against rabies.

Raccoon babies are cute. But if you see one, you should probably resist the urge to pick it up and bring it home.

A Colorado woman learned that the hard way when a raccoon baby that she brought home was tested positive for rabies. Now she must be treated for rabies, with more than a dozen of her friends who have visited the creature.

The woman, who lives in Weld County (north of Denver), recently found the baby raccoon on her property. According to a statement from the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, she brought her home after she abandoned him.

When the woman's friends learned that she had a baby raccoon, they just had to stop. According to the Greeley Tribune newspaper, a total of 20 people asked to see the raccoon in women. an animal baby at home, "said Greeley Tribune Rachel Freeman, the department's medical communications officer. [5 Viruses That Are Scarier Than Ebola]

The woman contacted a local animal shelter to see if she could take the raccoon, but the shelter could not accept it. Instead, the shelter contacted the health department, which in turn, tested the raccoon for rabies.

The positive test result means that all 21 people exposed to the raccoon need treatment for rabies. Officials said it was the "largest case of rabies exposure ever recorded in Weld County." It is very important that people do not touch or approach wild animals, "said Dr. Mark Wallace, director of the health department statement

The statement also noted that infants Animals may seem like "orphans" when they really are not, but their parents may not come back if people are too close to their offspring.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system It is usually transmitted by the bite of an infected animal.The disease causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord, and is fatal without treatment.

But the disease can be treated by 'post prophylaxis' -exposure ", which involves administering the rabies vaccine to exposed people.The treatment is extremely effective, but only if people get it before the symptoms begin, Dr. Amesh Adalja, a doctor of s infectious diseases and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Food Safety, told Live Science in an interview in 2017.

Original article on Live Science .