Bordetella are small, gram (-), bipolar rods.

Bordetella bronchiseptica-induced disease in animals:

• tracheobronchitis in dogs ("kennel cough")
  • acute onset of a harsh, "honking" cough, often elicited by tracheal palpation
    • The dog's owner may think the dog is retching.
• atrophic rhinitis in pigs?
• "snuffles" in rabbits (This is also related to Pasteurella infection.)
• respiratory disease in cats
  • Cats can also shed B. bronchiseptica subclinically.

Bordetella bronchiseptica-induced disease in humans:

This is an uncommon infection in humans (since 1911, 65 cases have been reported) that generally produces a relatively non-threatening, "whooping cough" (normally caused by Bordetella pertussis)-like syndrome in immunocompetent individuals. However, B. bronchiseptica has also been associated with endocarditis, peritonitis, meningitis and wound infections. In some cases, a direct connection to animals is obvious, e.g.,

• an otherwise healthy man with an infected branchial cleft cyst who worked on a farm
• a 79 year-old woman with pneumonia [4 times!] who had regular contact with rabbits on her farm - The human and rabbit isolates were identical.

Bordetella bronchiseptica is being isolated increasingly from immunocompromised hosts with respiratory tract infections ranging from sinusitis to pneumonia/pleuritis.

References:

Gomez, L. et al. 1998. Bacterial pneumonia due to Bordetella bronchiseptica in a patient with acute leukemia. Clin. Infect. Dis. 26:1002-1003.

Gueirard, P. et al. 1995. Human Bordetella bronchiseptica infection related to contact with infected animals: persistence of bacteria in host. J. Clin. Microbiol. 33:2002-2006.

Hewlett, E.L. 1995. Bordetella species, in: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (Eds. G.L. Mandel, J.E. Bennett and R. Dolin), pp. 2078-2084. Churchill Livingston, Inc.; New York, NY.

Hawkins, E.C. 1995. Disease of the lower respiratory system, in: Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Eds. S.J. Ettinger and E.C. Feldman), pp. 767-811. W.B. Saunders Co.; Philadelphia, PA.

Hoskins, J.D. et al. 1998. Isolation and characterization of Bordetella bronchiseptica from cats in southern Louisiana. Vet. Immunol. Immunopath. 65:173-176.

Re, V.L. et al. 2001. Infected branchial cleft cyst due to Bordetella bronchiseptica in an immunocompetent patient. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39:4210-4212.

Sastre, J. et al. 1991. Pneumonia due to Bordetella bronchiseptica in a patient with AIDS. Rev. Infect. Dis. 13:1250-1251.

Tamion, F. et al. 1996. Bordetella bronchiseptica pneumonia with shock in an immunocompetent patient. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 28:197-198.

Viejo, G. et al. 2002. Bordetella bronchiseptica pleural infection in a patient with AIDS. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 34:628-629.

Wallet, F. et al. 2002. Pneumonia due to Bordetella bronchiseptica in a cystic fibrosis patient: 16S rRNA sequencing for diagnosis confirmation. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40:2300-2301.

Woolfrey, B.F. et al. 1991. Human infections associated with Bordetella bronchiseptica. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 4:243-255.