Bordetella pertussis
| Bordetella pertussis | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Proteobacteria |
| Class: | Betaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Burkholderiales |
| Family: | Alcaligenaceae |
| Genus: | Bordetella |
| Species: | B. pertussis |
| Binomial name | |
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Bordetella pertussis (Bergey et al. 1923) Moreno-López 1952 |
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Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Unlike B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis is not motile. Its virulence factors include pertussis toxin, filamentous hæmagglutinin, pertactin, fimbria, and tracheal cytotoxin.
The bacterium is spread by airborne droplets; its incubation period is to human whooping cough in average 9–10 days (range 6–20 days). Humans are the only known reservoir for B. pertussis. The complete B. pertussis genome of 4,086,186 base pairs was published in 2003.
Pertussis (or whooping cough) 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. A graph is available showing the dramatic effect of introducing vaccination in England.B. pertussis infects its host by colonizing lung epithelial cells. The bacterium contains a surface protein, filamentous haemagglutinin adhesin, which binds to the sulfatides 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.
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Wikipedia