KHV can become latent inside the leukocytes of
healthy koi with probable exposure to the virus. In wild
populations,KHVcan remain as carrier in asymptomatic fish
and act as reservoir of infection [83]. Several months after
initial exposure to the virus, temperature-dependent reactivation
of KHV infection can occur in exposed fish [19, 78].
This latency feature of KHV probably contributes in the
spread of this pathogen to new geographic locations.