What type of pathogen is Bordetella pertussis?
Pertussis is also known as whooping cough. It is a highly infectious bacterial disease involving the respiratory tract. It is caused by a bacterium (Bordetella pertussis or Bordetella parapertussis ) that is found in the mouth, nose and throat of an infected person.
What is the classification of Bordetella pertussis?
Today, B pertussis belongs to the genus Bordetella in the family Alcaligenaceae, which contains several species of closely related bacteria with similar morphology. B pertussis and B parapertussis cause whooping cough (pertussis) in humans.
What kind of virus is Bordetella?
Bordetella organisms are small, gram-negative coccobacilli. They are strict aerobes. The most clinically important species is Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough.
What pathogen is responsible for Bordetella?
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory disease that is transmitted directly from human to human1, most likely via aerosolized respiratory droplets. The primary causative agent, Bordetella pertussis, is a Gram-negative bacterium that was first described by Bordet and Gengou in 1906 2.
What are the causative organism of pertussis?
Pertussis, a respiratory illness commonly known as whooping cough, is a very contagious disease caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. These bacteria attach to the cilia (tiny, hair-like extensions) that line part of the upper respiratory system.
Is pertussis a virus?
Pertussis is also called whooping cough. It is a serious lung infection caused by bacteria. It is also very contagious and causes coughing fits.
Is Bordetella a bacteria or a virus?
Bordetella bronchiseptica (B. bronchiseptica) is a bacterium that is commonly associated with respiratory disease in dogs. It can also infect cats, rabbits, and, in rare cases, humans. It is one of the most common bacterial causes of canine infectious tracheobronchitis, which is also sometimes called kennel cough.
What are the characteristics of Bordetella pertussis?
CHARACTERISTICS: Bordetella pertussis are small, gram-negative, encapsulated, non-motile, coccobacilli with outer pili. They are generally about 0.5-1.0 µm in size 3- 5. Some have reported that the bacteria are covered with surface slime or biofilm composed of carbohydrates 6 .
Is Bordetella pertussis heterotrophic?
It resides in the phylum Proteobacteria, class Betaproteobacteria, order Burkholderiales, and family Alcaligenaceae. Because it is an aerobe, it utilizes aerobic respiration. Therefore, the bacterium consists of an electron transport chain on its membrane, and is considered a chemoheterotroph.
Where does Bordetella pertussis bacteria live?
Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, is caused by a bacterium (germ), Bordetella pertussis, that lives in the mouth, nose and throat. The germ is highly contagious and is easily spread from person-to-person.
How is Bordetella pertussis transmitted?
pertussis occurs via aerosolized respiratory droplets, no controlled study has ever documented airborne transmission of B. pertussis.
How do you get Bordetella pertussis?
Whooping cough is caused by a type of bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, tiny germ-laden droplets are sprayed into the air and breathed into the lungs of anyone who happens to be nearby.
What are the characteristics of Bordetella pertussis?
CHARACTERISTICS: Bordetella pertussis are small, gram-negative, encapsulated, non-motile, coccobacilli with outer pili. They are generally about 0.5-1.0 µm in size 3- 5. Some have reported that the bacteria are covered with surface slime or biofilm composed of carbohydrates 6 .
What is the scientific name of whooping cough?
Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Related Pages. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe.
Is Bordetella pertussis an opportunistic pathogen?
Although other Bordetella species have been isolated from humans, they seem to be primarily opportunistic human pathogens. In the pre-vaccine era, pertussis was widespread and mainly affected young children (1–9 years old)7.
Is Bordetella pertussis airborne?
pertussis occurs via aerosolized respiratory droplets, no controlled study has ever documented airborne transmission of pertussis.
Overview
Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Like B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis is motile and expresses a flagellum-like structure. Its virulence factors include pertussis toxin, adenylate cyclase toxin, filamentous hæmagglutinin, pertactin, fimbria, and tracheal cytoto…
History
The disease pertussis was first described by French physician Guillaume de Baillou after the epidemic of 1578. The causative agent of pertussis was identified and isolated by Jules Bordet and Octave Gengou in 1906. SHUT UP GENN
Taxonomy
The genus Bordetella contains nine species: B. pertussis B. parapertussis, B. bronchiseptica, B. avium, B. hinzii, B. holmesii, B. trematum, B. ansorpii and B. petrii.
B. pertussis, B. parapertussis and B. bronchiseptica form a closely related phylogenetical group. B. parapertussis causes a disease similar to whooping cough in humans, and B. bronchiseptica infects a range of mammal hosts, including humans, and causes a spectrum of respiratory disor…
Pertussis
Pertussis is an infection of the respiratory system characterized by a “whooping” sound when the person breathes in. In the US, it killed between 10,000 and 20,000 people per year before a vaccine was available. Vaccination has transformed this; between 1985 and 1988, fewer than 100 children died from pertussis. Worldwide in 2000, according to the WHO, around 39 million people were infected annually and about 297,000 died. Since the introduction of vaccination in England in 19…
Prevention
Pertussis vaccine has been widely used since the second half of the 20th century. The first vaccines were whole-cell vaccines, composed of chemically inactivated bacteria. They are being replaced by acellular vaccines, composed of purified surface antigens, mainly fimbriae, filamentous haemaglutinin, pertactin and pertussis toxin. It is part of the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) immunization.
As a zoonotic disease
Uncertainties of B. pertussis and whooping cough as a zoonotic disease have existed since around 1910, but in the 1930s, the bacteria were found to have lost their virulent power when repeatedly spread on agar media. This explained the difficulties in reproducing results from different studies, as the preinoculating handling of the bacteria was not standardized among scientists.
Diagnosis
A nasopharyngeal or an oropharynx swab is sent to the bacteriology laboratory for Gram stain (Gram-negative, coccobacilli, diplococci arrangement), growth on Bordet–Gengou agar or BCYE plate with added cephalosporin to select for the organism, which shows mercury drop-like colonies. B. pertussis can also be detected by PCR, which is more sensitive than culture. The primers used for PCR usually target the transposable elements IS481 and IS1001.
Treatment
Whooping cough is treated by macrolides, for example erythromycin. The therapy is most effective when started during the incubation period or the catarrhal period. When applied during the paroxysmal cough phase, the time of reconvalescence is not affected, only further transmission is prevented.