Education Sheets 2002-A

For MM2201 - Bordetella bronchiseptica

Bordetella bronchiseptica is Gram-negative rod, motile (peritrichous flagella); does not use carbohydrate. It grows well on MacConkey agar. It shows rapid urease production (4 hours) on Christensen's urea slant. Rarely found in humans, however can cause pertussis-like symptoms in immunocompetent hosts; in immunocompromised hosts, illness can range in severity from mild respiratory symptoms to pneumonia; carrier state may exist. The disease is tranfered from person to person through coughing and the generation of infectious droplets. It can also be transmitted from infected animals to humans by infected aerosols, probably droplets.
Bordetella bronchiseptica is usually a cause of pneumonia, otitis media, and other respiratory infections in animals (e.g. dogs, cats, swine, etc.).

Table 1. The phenotypic differentiation of Bordetella species.

 
 

B. pertusis
 

B. parapertusis
 

B. bronchiseptica
 

Other motile
Bordetella sp.

 Growth on :

 

 

 

 

 Blood agar

-

+

+

+

 MacConkey agar

-

±

+

+

 Oxidase

+

-

+

+

 Nitrate reduction

-

-

+

-

 Urease production

-

+ (24h)

+ (4h)

-

 Motility

-

-

+

+

References:

J.E. Hoppe. 1999. Bordetella, P.614-624. In P.R. Murray, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 7th edition. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.

R.S. Weyant, C.W. Moss, R.E. Weaver, D.G. Hollis, J.G. Jordan, E.C. Cook, and M.I. Daneshvar. 1984. Identification of Unusual Pathogenic Gram-Negative Aerobic and Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria, 2nd edition. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. US. P.296-297.

R. Parton. 1998. Chapter 38 Bordetella, P. 901-918. In Topley & Wilson's Microbiology and Microbial Infections, Volume 2 Systemic Bacteriology, 9th edition. Co-published in the US. NY.

 

Last updated on 6 June, 2002.

Prepared by HKIMLSQAP Medical Microbiology Panel.

Copyright 2002 HKIMLSQAP. All Rights Reserved.