LOVELAND – A mountain lion that attacked a person in northern Colorado and bit a sheriff’s deputy who was responding to help has tested positive for rabies.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials say both bite victims have been notified, and Larimer County’s health department is managing the response.

A man and a delivery driver were talking outside a home near an RV park along the Big Thompson River west of Loveland on Wednesday when the 91-pound male mountain lion attacked. A responding deputy also was attacked, prompting officers to shoot and kill the mountain lion.

Both victims were hospitalized but are expected to recover.

Wildlife officials say it’s unclear how the mountain lion contracted rabies, but it’s possible it was bitten by a smaller animal that was rabid. There have been 23 recorded mountain lion attacks on humans in Colorado since 1990.