Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Unlike B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis is non-motile. There does not appear to be a zoonotic reservoir for B. pertussis—humans are its only host. The bacterium is spread by coughing and by nasal dripping. The incubation period is 7–14 days.
Pertussis (or whooping cough) is an infection of the respiratory system and characterized by a “whooping” sound when the person breathes in. In the US it killed 5,000 to 10,000 people per year before a vaccine was available. Worldwide in 2000, according to the WHO, around 39 million people were infected annually and about 297,000 died. Bordetella pertussis infects its host by colonizing lung epithelial cells. The bacterium contains a surface protein, filamentous hemagglutinin, which binds to sulfatides that are found on cilia of epithelial cells. Once anchored, the bacterium produces tracheal cytotoxin, which stops the cilia from beating. This prevents the cilia from clearing debris from the lungs, so the body responds by sending the host into a coughing fit. These coughs expel some bacteria into the air, which are free to infect other hosts. Bordetella pertussis has the ability to inhibit the function of the host’s immune system. Two toxins, known as the pertussis toxin (or PTx) and adenylate cyclase (CyaA), are responsible for this inhibition. CyaA converts ATP to cyclic AMP, and PTx inhibits an intracellular protein that regulates this process. The end result is that phagocytes convert too much ATP to cyclic AMP, which can cause disturbances in cellular signaling mechanisms, and prevent phagocytes from correctly responding to an infection.
