THE Koi Herpes Virus which infected at least 23 fisheries over the summer is lying dormant in the wild waiting to strike down more fisheries next summer.
That was the conclusion of the Environment Agency following its investigation into the fish farms which supplied fish to all the infected venues last winter.
Tests found no KHv present on any of the farms prompting the EA to claim vaccinated are safe.
The Agency is concluding that the virus had been lying undetected in the affected fisheries and that it could be far more widespread than previously thought.

A SWITCH from boilies to maggot feeder tactics proved the successful method for Pat Colgan who smashed his personal best with this 15lb 8oz barbel from the Royalty fishery on the Hants Avon.
Local government systems manger Pat, from Yeovil in Somerset, first baitdropped a bed of red maggots and then feeder fished three red maggots on a size 12 Drennan Super Specialist Barbel hook to tempt the fish from below The Piles swim at the Christchurch venue.
“It took me 15 minutes to land the fish which kept hard on the bottom in deep water for most of the fight. It looked around 8 or 9lb at that depth and I couldn’t believe how big it was when it hit the surface – I was hoping it might beat my personal best,” said Pat.
When he weighed the fish he was delighted to see that he’d smashed his previous best of 12lb 6oz caught from the River Severn.
“It was a catch that I’ll remember for a long time to come,” admitted the 58-year-old Ringwood DAC member.