The only way to test the fox for rabies requires it to be put down.
The Capitol Hill fox has met its fate.
Despite some rising internet stardom, the fox that Capitol Police captured on Tuesday following reports of several "aggressive" incidents was euthanized, the District of Columbia Department of Health confirmed Wednesday.
"The fox responsible for the attacks on Capitol Hill yesterday was captured and humanely euthanized so that rabies testing may be done," the statement said. "The fox was an adult female and kits were found and captured in the area where the fox was from earlier this morning. If this fox is determined to be the parent of the kits, they will sent to a wildlife rehabilitation center, otherwise they will be relocated in the area they were found."
Police had warned the public Tuesday afternoon not to approach any foxes reportedly raising alarms around the Capitol complex.
"We have received several reports of aggressive fox encounters on or near the grounds of the U.S. Capitol," Capitol Police tweeted at 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday. "For your safety, please do not approach any foxes. Animal Control Officers are working to trap and relocate any foxes they find."
A Capitol Police spokesman told ABC News on Tuesday that a fox "bit or nipped" at least six people, including one lawmaker.
The office of the House Sergeant at Arms had also warned lawmakers in a memo about the fox reportedly biting people and said: "There are possibly several fox dens on Capitol Grounds."
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., revealed on Twitter he was the lawmaker who had been bitten.
Notably, foxes are susceptible to rabies and can transmit the disease to humans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a fact Bera knows now all too well.
The congressman's office confirmed in a statement to ABC News that he was "nipped on the leg" and admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received several shots.
Bera, who is a physician, tweeted a light-hearted warning about his close call.
Pictures of the cute -- but potentially dangerous -- creature first popped up on social media on Monday. A fox was spotted scavenging on the streets nearby Tuesday afternoon, despite the area being crowded with tourists now that the Capitol complex reopened to the public last month after being mostly closed for two years because of the pandemic.
After workers spent hours trying to find the animal in question, Capitol Police tweeted a photo at 3:36 p.m. Tuesday of the culprit in a cage with the line "Captured."
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told reporters she had a close encounter with the fox Monday evening and showed a video she took of the usually nocturnal animal.
Some on the internet were quick to call for the fox -- who was captured with the help of the Humane Rescue Alliance -- to be freed. One social media account cosplaying as the "Capitol Fox" also appeared on Twitter Tuesday, even releasing a statement on what the fox called its "illegal arrest."
"As a fox, I cannot speak. And too often -- I have nobody to speak for me. They mock me in songs, they wear me as clothes, and they hunt me down like a criminal in my home. For what, I ask you?" the statement said.
No other foxes were found on the Capitol Hill grounds, the Department of Health said Wednesday.
The only way to test for rabies in canines is to test their brain, which requires them to be put down.
ABC News' Justin Fishel and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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