Harford County Health Department staffers have found the dog and its owner they were concerned about because they had come into contact with a suspected rabid beaver in the northern part of the county earlier this week.
Health officials said they have determined neither is at risk for infection. They also do not believe there is a general rabies threat in the area of Northern Harford where the beaver was observed and a rabid cat was reported in May.
William Wiseman, spokesperson for the Health Department, said Wednesday that staffers with the Bureau of Environmental Health conducted a "risk assessment" on the dog and the owner and determined that there is "no additional need for follow-up."
"It was determined that there was no risk of infection to either the owner of the dog or the dog's owner," Wiseman said.
Health officials announced Monday evening that a person had been bitten by a beaver while in the Deer Creek Conservation Area in Street, and that they suspected the beaver was rabid because of its out-of-character behavior.
Wiseman said wildlife such as beavers usually try to avoid contact with humans.
The Deer Creek Conservation Area is about two miles from the Harford Waste Disposal Center. A feral cat which tested positive for rabies in late May was living near the landfill, but Wiseman said there is "no discernible nor likely connection" between the cat incident and the beaver bite incident.
The Health Department and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources were working to find the beaver and anyone else who might have encountered the animal.
Health officials were concerned that the dog, who is owned by a visitor to the conservation area, had come in contact with the beaver close to the same time as the bite incident.
Wiseman said in an email Thursday that the dog owner had not been exposed to the beaver, and his dog was examined by a veterinarian. The dog had no signs of contact with the beaver, and its rabies vaccinations are up to date.
The person who was bitten is being treated, and no other people have reported any encounters with the beaver.
The health department also received a report late Wednesday that a beaver cadaver had been found in the same "general vicinity" of where the first person was bitten. A DNR representative visited the area and collected the beaver's body, but the "specimen was so badly decomposed that it was unsuitable for testing," according to Wiseman.
"It was collected but will be disposed of," he wrote.
Rabies, which is often fatal, is carried in the saliva of infected animals and can be transferred to another victim via a bit or saliva getting in an open wound.
Wiseman said rabies can be prevented by ensuring that pets' vaccines are kept up to date. He said people should also avoid encounters with wildlife.
"We certainly should follow our instinct and let them go, let them be," he said of wild animals.