Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Bordetella bronchiseptica, Gram-negative, aerobic, motile, coccobacillus prokaryote (bacterium). Bordetella bronchiseptica typically infects the respiratory tracts of smaller mammals (cats, dogs, rabbits). It causes infectious bronchitis, but rarely infects humans. It does not express pertussis toxin, which is one of the characteristic virulence factors of B. pertussis. It is related to Bordetella pertussis, the obligate human pathogen, that causes pertussis or whooping cough. B. bronchiseptica does not express pertussis toxin, which is one of the characteristic virulence factors of B. pertussis. Humans are not natural carriers of B. bronchiseptica. Magnification: x4, 400 when shortest axis printed at 25 millimetres. |