Killed vaccines, developed by inactivation with formalin, have been investigated for many fish viruses. In this study, the inactivation of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) by formalin was investigated based on the infectivity titer. When viral cell culture supernatants were used, the infectivity titer decreased 1,000-fold at 1 d after treatment with 0.1% (v/v) formalin, but was below the detection limit at 7 and 14 d. Moreover, neither the N nor G gene were detectable by RT-PCR immediately after formalin treatment. In western blot analysis, N protein was not detected by rabbit antiserum against VHSV KR-9225 from 2 d after formalin treatment. On the other hand, when we used a virus that was purified and concentrated ~100 times, the infectivity titer was maintained at 106.05 TCID50/mL, even at 14 d after formalin treatment, and no change in the viral structural proteins was observed. This study provides important data on the production and use of formalin-inactivated vaccines.