A 13-year-old boy named Dominick Cebula was swimming at Cunningham Falls state park in Maryland when he was attacked by a rabid beaver on July 26. The incident resulted in multiple surgeries for nerve damage and post-exposure shots to prevent rabies. Local reports indicate this is part of an increasing number of beaver attacks in the area, prompting the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to investigate and take measures such as dismantling a beaver lodge and conducting daily surveillance at the lake.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A 13-year-old Maryland boy named Dominick Cebula is recovering from multiple surgeries and nerve damage after being attacked by a rabid beaver at Cunningham Falls state park in Thurmont, Maryland, on July 26, 2025. According to his father, Jeff Cebula, the incident occurred while Dominick was swimming; the beaver bit him on his chest and hand. After fighting off the animal, he was airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for treatment. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) later confirmed that the beaver had rabies.
Dominick underwent three surgeries to repair nerve damage and received multiple rabies post-exposure shots at each bite site. This rare attack highlights an increase in rabies-related inquiries; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 17% rise from July through August compared to the same period in 2024, including mass exposure events involving more than one person.
Written for “Beaver Attack Injury Maryland” on 2026-09-14,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 9258 · logged 2026-09-14
A 13-year-old Maryland boy is reported to be recovering from multiple surgeries and nerve damage after being attacked by a rabid beaver.
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boy → report → beaver
The teen, Dominick Cebula, was swimming at a popular spot in Cunningham Falls state park in Thurmont, Maryland, on 26 July when a beaver attacked his chest underwater, a relatively rare kind of encounter that more recently has been recurring, according to reporting from local news outlets.
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that → swim → outlets
Speaking to the news outlet WUSA, Dominick’s father, Jeff Cebula, said: “He grabbed its head and a leg and he tried to get it off of him …
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he → speak → him
At that point, he kind of felt that it was locked onto him.
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it → feel → him
And then it started shaking its head, kind of like a dog would do.”
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dog → start → head
Jeff Cebula said his son pulled the beaver off his chest but as he backed away, the animal attacked again, biting him on the right hand, WUSA reported.
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WUSA → say → hand
Dominick fought off the beaver before being airlifted to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore, where he underwent three surgeries on his chest and hands to repair nerve damage.
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he → fight → damage
He was also given a rabies post-exposure shot, with his father saying: “It’s not just one shot …
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It → give → shot
It’s multiple shots around each bite site.”
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It → ’ → site
WUSA reported that the beaver was later confirmed to have rabies after being caught and euthanized.
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beaver → report → rabies
Multiple other beaver attacks have occurred in Maryland.
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attacks → occur → Maryland
On 5 August, a rabid beaver allegedly attacked the leg of a 19-year-old fisher at Cunningham Falls state park before being caught and euthanized.
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beaver → attack → park
And a few days later, a 10-year-old girl endured a beaver attack while canoeing at Maryland’s Seneca Creek state park, CBS News reported.
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News → endure → park
On 6 August, the Maryland department of natural resources (DNR) announced that it was investigating a potential rabies outbreak in Cunningham Falls state park.
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it → announce → park
Actions in response to that possible outbreak included “dismantling a nearby beaver lodge and establishing daily surveillance at the lake for other beavers using DNR staff and a wildlife damage control cooperator”.
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Actions → include → staff
The Maryland DNR said its wildlife and heritage service would “institute night-time monitoring at the lake along with daytime surveillance to remove additional beavers, if any are present”.
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any → say → beavers
Although beavers are typically non-aggressive and avoid conflict with humans, people should still maintain a minimum safe viewing distance of 25 yards, the Maryland DNR advised.
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DNR → avoid → yards
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that the agency from July through August had received 17% more rabies-related inquiries than during the same period in 2025 – including reports of mass exposure events that involve more than one person.
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that → report → person
Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease with a near 100% fatality rate once symptoms develop.
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symptoms → develop → rate
However, it is preventable when post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is administered appropriately.
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prophylaxis → administer → ?
PEP consists of a series of shots given promptly after potential exposure to the rabies virus Lyssavirus rabies and before symptoms begin.
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symptoms → consist → rabies
Common symptoms of rabies include anxiety, insomnia, hydrophobia, hypersalivation, fever and headaches.
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symptoms → include → anxiety
