Common carp Cyprinus carpio were experimentally exposed to koi herpesvirus (KHV) under water temperature regimes ranging from 16°C to 28°C. Fish maintained at 16°C, 23°C and 28°C died due to infection at 21-52, 5-20 and 7-14 days post-virus exposure (dpe), respectively. Cohabitation experiments in which KHV-infected common carp were kept with naive koi carp revealed that infectious virus was continuously shed from the infected common carp for 34 days (7-40 dpe) at 16°C, for 14 days (1-14 dpe) at 23°C and for 12 days (3-14 dpe) at 28°C. The relatively extended duration of virus shedding observed at 16°C suggests the potential risk of infection from fish maintained under low-temperature conditions as a source of viral inocula.