Wild hogs captured in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park have tested positive for pseudorabies.

The virus does not pose a threat to humans but is a serious infectious disease for the commercial pork industry, according to Bill Stiver, a wildlife biologist park ranger who monitors hogs in the park. It can be caught by cattle, horses, dogs, cats, sheep and goats.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has an ongoing program to remove wild hogs. Wild hogs are not native species, but were brought to America by European settlers. Their wild descendents have populated the park, traveling in packs and wreaking havoc on native vegetation with their sharp digging hooves and rooting action. The park has removed 203 hogs from the park this year alone.

The park has sent samples from killed hogs to the N.C. Department of Agriculture for several years, and this is the first evidence of a disease. Park rangers suspect that domestic hogs have been released in the park by hunters who fear the park’s eradication program could cause the decline of the wild hog population. The domestic swine disease could have been introduced into the park in this manner.

Pseudorabies is an extremely contagious herpes virus that causes reproductive problems. Older pigs can survive infection, becoming carriers of the pseudorabies virus for life. Other animals that catch the virus from swine die from it, however. Also known as “mad itch,” infected cattle and sheep will show signs of scratching and biting themselves. In dogs and cats, pseudorabies can cause sudden death.