Ford was only transferred to an infectious diseases unit on 11 June after those treating her at Barnsley Hospital learned about the dog scratch.
A psychiatrist, Dr Alexander Burns, asked the family about foreign travel when he was considering the possibility of Lyme disease, and said staff had not been told about the Morocco incident before then.
He had never seen a rabies case before, so had to research the symptoms.
Dr Katherine Cartwright, an expert from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, told the jury that there had only been 26 rabies cases in the UK since 1946.
The disease has been eliminated from the UK but many countries are still considered to be high risk.
Dr Cartwright added that symptoms usually begin within four weeks of exposure, but can take up to three months to become apparent.
Ford had also visited her GP in March and April when she felt unwell, and complained about insect bites.