Herpesvirus cases appear to be contained to a single barn

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson said in a Thursday industry update that the equine herpesvirus outbreak on the Woodbine backstretch appears to be contained to Barn 12. All horses in the neighboring Barn 10 tested negative.

“We are working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and AGCO veterinarians on addressing the presence of EHV-1 on our backstretch,” Lawson said. “We moved very quickly to contain the spread of the virus and further testing continues. While it’s an unfortunate situation, our industry is experienced in managing EHV-1 outbreaks. As many of you may recall, Woodbine successfully worked through an outbreak of EHV-1 on our backstretch in 2013.”

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Training has continued with physical distancing and other safety protocols in place to minimize the risk of the virus spreading. Although unrelated to coronavirus, many of the protocols that were already put in place to protect against COVID-19 are also helpful in preventing the spread of EHV-1.

“We do not anticipate that this will impact our plans to open the season on Saturday, June 6.” Lawson said.