As the start of opening ceremonies this year's Olympics in Brazil approaches, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the country is still dealing with concerns surrounding outbreaks of glanders in recent years. Two horses housed at the Deodoro Military Complex, where Olympic equestrian events will take place, were euthanized due to the outbreak around the time of Olympic test events last year.

Glanders is a bacterial infection which causes ulcers and lesions on the horse's skin and lungs. It's often fatal to horses, although they can carry it for a long period of time before succumbing to it. The illness can also be spread to humans. Some 623 horses were euthanized between 2013 and 2015 because they were suspected to have glanders, although some Brazilians say the disease hadn't been properly confirmed in all of those animals first and reports of the dangers of glanders are overblown.

Olympic officials say that visiting horses competing in the games will be housed in a protective biosphere at the Rio airport and will remain in quarantine throughout their time in the country, effectively reducing the likelihood they could pick up glanders. As of this week, no riders named to Olympic teams had publicly withdrawn due to concerns about glanders.

This story has been updated to reflect the timeline of the two glanders cases detected at Deodoro Military Complex.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

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