Gaston County has its first confirmed case of rabies this year after a dead raccoon found in a yard in Belmont last week tested positive, according to a press release from the county police department.

The dead raccoon, which was found on Friday near a family cat on Timber Ridge Road, was investigated and impounded by the Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement Specialists.

On Monday, the raccoon was taken to Raleigh to the North Carolina Laboratory of Public Health for testing, the release said. The next day it tested positive for rabies.

There was no human contact with the raccoon, the release said, and the cat’s owner said they did not witness the cat having any interaction with the raccoon. But the cat was given a rabies booster as a precaution.

The department said Animal Care and Enforcement canvassed the area of Timber Ridge Road to alert the community about the positive rabies results, as well as verify rabies vaccinations for peoples’ pets in the area.

Animal Care and Enforcement also informed the county’s Department of Health and Human Services about the incident.