GIDEON

07/24/2025

🚨 hasn’t let go yet: 1,319 U.S. cases across 40 states. Growth slowed last week with only 10 new cases, but pockets with low vaccination keep fueling the spread.

📷 Latest snapshot
• 87 % of cases come from local clusters
• 92 % of patients are unvaccinated, or their status is unknown
• 3 deaths in 2025, all unvaccinated
• New reports this week: CO, IA, NM, WY
• States are launching back-to-school catch-up clinics to prevent the spread once schools start

👉 Why it matters
• Measles moves fast: 1 sick child can infect up to 15 others. Routine MMR shots shut that door, yet coverage gaps give the virus room to run.

📖 Learn why eliminating measles protects everyone → https://bit.ly/3HbNzgD
💬 Does your community offer free MMR catch-ups? Tell us below.

Measles is highly contagious but preventable with vaccines. Until all nations work to control it, outbreaks may continue to persist.

07/22/2025

Can daily HIV PrEP pills pull double duty against other viruses?

Australian scientists gave the HIV PrEP combo tenofovir + dolutegravir to mice infected with the little-known HTLV-1 virus. They noticed the virus slowing down.

Then, when they added an MCL-1 blocker (a drug that tells infected cells to disable their own life support), the virus nearly disappeared!
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Why does this matter?
• HTLV-1 infects 5–10 million people in parts of Australia, Japan, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East
• About 1 in 10 people infected later develop aggressive leukemia or permanent spinal-cord damage
• No approved treatment exists yet
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💡 Next step: Human trials.

Read more ➜ https://bit.ly/3GAGGYI
👇 Which other “silent” infections deserve more attention?

07/17/2025

🧠 Could your shingles or RSV shot also help protect your brain?

💉 Both vaccines use a built-in immune booster (AS01) that helps older immune systems respond. A recent review of U.S. health records linked these vaccines to a lower risk of dementia, within 18 months of getting the vaccine.

• Shingrix: 18% lower risk
• Arexvy: 29% lower risk
• Both vaccines: 37% lower risk

Note: The study is observational, so it shows a link, not proof. Still, it hints at how immunity and brain health may be connected.

Read the study → https://go.nature.com/3Ub20XF

What do you think about this research?

AS01-adjuvanted shingles (herpes zoster) vaccination is associated with a lower risk of dementia, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. In propensity-score matched cohort studies with 436,788 individuals, both the AS01-adjuvanted shingles and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines, individu...

07/15/2025

🚨 12 human H5N1 cases in Cambodia in 2025. 6 people died; all had handled sick backyard chickens.

🔍 Key facts
• Age range: toddlers to adults
• No evidence of person-to-person spread so far

Learn more about H5N1 (bird flu): https://bit.ly/3DAtu4b
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🛠️ How the GIDEON database enhances outbreak surveillance
• Daily-refreshed outbreak data, you can filter by pathogen, country, or year
• Interactive maps that pinpoint where cases cluster
• Ready-made charts for class discussions and educational programs

Tell us: How do you use outbreak data in your work?

Learn about avian flu (bird flu): causes, symptoms, transmission, and prevention. Understand how H5N1 spreads from birds to humans and how to stay safe.

07/10/2025

🧑‍🔬 Making memorable without reinventing every lesson!

Get , plug-and-play created by experts and designed to turn dense pathogen lists into activities students can remember.

Here's just a sample of what you'll find:
🔹 Jeopardy! Animal Diseases: Review day becomes a buzzer-style game show
🔹 Marburg vs Ebola debate kit: Teams argue real-world outbreak responses
🔹 Foodborne cucumber-related outbreak case study: Use GIDEON’s differential-diagnosis tool to solve the mystery

Each pack delivers clear learning outcomes, maps, worksheets, and answer keys—ready to get started and keep the class talking.

Browse or download (no paywall): https://bit.ly/3ECQOeH

Already tested one? Share which lesson boosted engagement—or which pathogen still stumps your class. Your feedback shapes what we build next!

07/08/2025

✈️ 36 hours—that’s all a new needs to circle the globe.
In 2003, one hotel guest in Hong Kong infected 16 fellow travellers overnight, triggering outbreaks in three countries.

Airlines now carry 4.7 billion passengers a year, the busiest skies in history. Even a small flare-up can become tomorrow’s headline.

What you’ll find in our latest article:
• Why today’s travel corridors supercharge disease spread
• How outbreak surveillance can help you flag trouble before you board
• Simple steps that travelers and healthcare providers can take to break the chain

Read more → https://bit.ly/4bCbGT2

Discover how modern travel accelerates infectious disease outbreaks, challenges in outbreak tracking, and essential precautions travelers can take to prevent global spread.

07/01/2025

:🔍 For years, scientists wondered: How do bacteria survive inside ticks long enough to spread to humans?

🧬 WSU researchers Vosbigian and Shaw decided to find out. They discovered that the bacteria were hijacking the tick's own cellular machinery, specifically a protein called ATF6, to steal cholesterol they desperately needed to survive.

💡 : When researchers blocked access to the cholesterol, the bacteria couldn't grow in the tick.
🎯This discovery may offer hope that we may be able to stop Lyme disease at the source: inside the ticks, instead of treating people after they're infected.

How tick-borne pathogens interact with their hosts has been primarily studied in vertebrates where disease is observed. Comparatively less is known...

06/27/2025

🚨Important health update: Hepatitis A in Central Europe
👉 2,000+ people infected across popular travel destinations like Prague, Vienna, and Budapest
👉 Many have been hospitalized, and 9 deaths have been reported

Why this matters: Hepatitis A can look like the flu or food poisoning at first, but adults can get seriously sick.

👀 Watch for these signs (2-6 weeks after exposure):
→ Extreme fatigue that won't go away
→ Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain
→ Dark urine and joint pain
→ Later: yellow eyes/skin, light-colored stool

If you have symptoms AND recent travel to these areas, see a healthcare provider immediately and mention your travel history!
https://bit.ly/3Il1cg4

Learn about Hepatitis A, a contagious viral infection. This guide covers symptoms, how it spreads, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

06/24/2025

is showing up in wastewater before symptoms appear

📍 In 2025, 33 states in the U.S. have already reported measles outbreaks.
🧪 The virus has now been found in wastewater in Maryland, California, and Connecticut before any official diagnoses are reported.

📊 This type of wastewater surveillance gives public health teams an early warning to act faster.

tracks infectious disease outbreaks and provides key tools for public health professionals, educators, and clinicians to stay ahead of infectious diseases.

Measles is highly contagious but preventable with vaccines. Until all nations work to control it, outbreaks may continue to persist.

06/20/2025

GIDEON® is excited to be at Microbe in Los Angeles. If you're attending, please stop by the GIDEON booth. Early visitors get an interesting gift!🎁

American Society for Microbiology

06/17/2025

In Los Angeles for Microbe? The GIDEON® team looks forward to seeing you there.

GIDEON offers in-depth infectious disease data for:
💠 30,000+ outbreaks
💠 3,000+ pathogens
💠370+ infectious diseases
💠30,000+ drug trade names...and much more.

Stop by to learn how GIDEON can enhance your microbiology research and education!

06/17/2025

🦠 There's a foodborne pathogen making 1.5 million Americans sick each year, a most people have never heard of: Campylobacter jejuni.

Why you should care:
✅ It's more common than you think—beats salmonella in infection rates
✅ Recent outbreaks from surprising sources: tap water, oysters, pet store puppies
✅ 28% now resist common antibiotics, making treatment harder
✅ Can trigger serious complications like Guillain-Barré syndrome ( )
✅ Spreads easily through cross-contamination in kitchens

But here's the good news: Simple kitchen habits can prevent most infections.
🔹 Cook chicken thoroughly (165°F internal temp)
🔹 Use separate cutting boards for raw meat
🔹 Wash hands after handling raw poultry
🔹 Don't drink unpasteurized milk

Discover Campylobacter jejuni, a common foodborne bacteria causing millions of infections each year. Learn symptoms, diagnosis, treatment options, and more.