A group of 15 teenagers contracted the rabies virus disease after raping an infected donkey in a rural area in Morocco.

The teenagers, aged seven to 15, from Sidi Al Kamel, Morocco spent a week in hospital receiving treatment for the deadly disease they contracted by violating a donkey, Moroccan daily Al Akhbar newspaper reported.

The shocking incident left the families of the youngsters “in distress and horror.”

The actual number infected could be a lot higher as many families took their sons for treatment at hospitals outside the immediate area to avoid shame, it was gathered.

The infected boys stayed at the Mechraa Belksiri Hospital for one week to receive rabies vaccination.

Local authorities are making frantic efforts to find anyone else who has had sex with the donkey avoid further spread of disease.

The occurrence quickly became the subject of mockery and ridicule among the population of the small town.

However, it has also become a subject of fear and shame for parents who, in the utmost secrecy, had their children vaccinated in case they had touched the animal.

The local authorities ordered the owner of the animal to slaughter it to avoid further risk of spreading the disease.