How to Complete and Submit the DHEC Animal Bite Report (Form 1799)

South Carolina’s DHEC Animal Bite Report, Form 1799-ENG-DPH, is the official notice you send to the Department of Public Health when an animal bites or otherwise exposes a person to potential rabies. You can download it as a PDF or submit it through DPH’s online portal, and it needs to reach the department by the end of the next business day after the bite.¹ Filing it starts the quarantine process that tells you and your doctor whether the animal was rabid.

Who Files the Report and by When

South Carolina Code Section 47-5-90 puts the reporting duty on two people. If a physician treats the wound, the physician reports the bite to the county health department by the end of the next working day after the initial visit. If no physician sees the wound, the bitten adult, or the parent or guardian of a bitten minor, files the report within that same window.² A Friday-evening bite is due by close of business Monday.

In practice, if you went to an ER or urgent care, the treating provider handles the paperwork. You only file yourself when you decide not to seek medical care, though for any bite that breaks the skin, medical care is almost always the right call.

Violating any provision of the Rabies Control Act is a misdemeanor punishable up to the maximum penalties allowed in magistrate’s court.³ Skipping the report also delays quarantine of the animal and leaves the bite victim without the information needed to decide about post-exposure treatment.

Information to Gather Before You Start

The statute requires the report to include the name, age, sex, weight, address, and telephone number of the person bitten.² The DPH form asks for more. Have the following ready:

Victim details: full name, date of birth, sex, weight, home address, and phone number.
Incident specifics: date, time, and exact location of the bite, plus a description of what happened, including whether the animal was provoked, loose, or restrained.
Wound description: body part bitten, number of wounds, and severity (scratch, puncture, laceration, or deeper tissue damage).
Animal identification: species, breed, size, color, distinctive markings, and any collar, tag number, or microchip.
Owner information: name, address, and phone number. If the owner is unknown or the animal is a stray, record where the animal was last seen and how it behaved.
Vaccination status: whether the animal has a current rabies vaccination, the veterinarian who administered it, and the date of the last shot. This directly affects whether quarantine can happen at home.

If a wild animal was involved, note the species and whether it was captured, killed, or escaped. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and bats are the primary rabies carriers in the United States, and wild-animal cases move faster than domestic pet bites.⁴

Filling Out Form 1799

Form 1799-ENG-DPH comes as a printable PDF and as an electronic form on the DPH website.⁵ The online version is faster because it routes straight to DPH with no faxing or mailing.

On the paper form, print clearly in ink. The sections track the list above: victim identification at the top, incident details in the middle, animal and owner information toward the bottom. Fill every field you can. A blank forces the county officer to chase down the missing detail, and that delays the quarantine order and any follow-up guidance for the victim. Verify the incident date and location, because those determine which county takes jurisdiction.

The form also asks about medical treatment. If the victim has already seen a provider, list the name, facility, and whether post-exposure prophylaxis was started. If not, remember that the form is not a substitute for medical care. File it, then see a doctor.

How to Submit the Report

DPH accepts the report three ways, and which one you use depends on when the bite happened.

Online submission through the DPH Animal Bite Incident Report page. This is the most reliable way to meet the next-business-day deadline.¹
County office contact between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on business days. The DPH Rabies Contacts and Reporting page lists the correct office for each county.⁶
After-hours line at 1-888-847-0902, option 2, for nights, weekends, and holidays.¹

If you are unsure which county has jurisdiction, use the county where the bite physically happened, not the county where you live. A bite in Richland County goes to Richland’s health department even if you drove home to Lexington before filing.

What Happens After You Report

Once the county health department has the report, the response depends on the animal.

Dogs, Cats, and Ferrets

The county issues a quarantine notice to the owner requiring confinement for at least ten days from the date of the bite. The owner pays for the quarantine, which can take place at home, at an animal shelter, or at another location the department designates. A licensed veterinarian or rabies control officer can examine the animal at any time during the ten days, and the owner cannot obstruct those examinations.⁷

Officials watch for abnormal behavior, lethargy, fever, difficulty swallowing, excessive drooling, self-mutilation, paralysis, seizures, and aggression.⁴ An animal that stays healthy for the full ten days effectively rules out rabies transmission from that bite.

Wildlife and Other Animals

For animals other than dogs, cats, and ferrets, the rules are harsher. The department notifies the owner, if there is one, to have the animal immediately euthanized and its brain submitted for rabies testing, or to quarantine it under conditions the department specifies. Compliance must be immediate.⁷ Wild animals cannot be reliably observed the way a household pet can, so brain-tissue testing is the standard approach.

If Your Own Pet Was Exposed

If your pet was bitten or exposed to an animal suspected of carrying rabies, the health department issues a separate quarantine notice to you. A pet with a current rabies vaccination must be revaccinated immediately and quarantined at least 45 days. An unvaccinated pet faces at least 180 days, with a vaccination at day 150 and release 30 days later if no signs of rabies appear.⁸ Keeping vaccinations current is the single biggest thing that shortens a quarantine after an exposure.

Get Medical Care for Yourself

The report and the quarantine handle the public-health side. Your own concern is whether you need post-exposure prophylaxis, which is the only reliable way to prevent rabies after exposure and must begin before symptoms appear. Every regimen starts with thorough wound cleansing using soap and water for several minutes, which by itself significantly reduces infection risk.⁹

Your physician will weigh the animal’s quarantine status when deciding whether to start PEP right away or wait for the ten-day observation. If the biting animal was a stray that escaped, a wild animal that was not captured, or a bat where contact is hard to confirm, most physicians start PEP immediately rather than gamble on finding the animal later. That is another reason to file the report quickly: the sooner the county locates and quarantines the animal, the sooner your doctor knows whether to continue or stop treatment.

1
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Report Animal Bites to DPH
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 47-5-90 – Reports of Animal Bites to Health Department
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 47-5 – Rabies Control Act
4
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Information for Veterinarians
5
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Animal Incident Report
6
South Carolina Department of Public Health. Rabies
7
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 47-5-100 – Quarantine, Examination and Destruction of Biting or Attacking Dog, Cat, or Ferret
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 47-5-110 – Pets Bitten or Otherwise Exposed to Animal Suspected of Having Rabies
9
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Guidance