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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Virus and Prion Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #319225

Title: Bordetella pertussis transmission

Author
item TRAINOR, ELIZABETH - Us Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
item Nicholson, Tracy
item MERKEL, TOD - Us Food & Drug Administration (FDA)

Submitted to: Pathogens and Disease
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/28/2015
Publication Date: 11/1/2015
Citation: Trainor, E., Nicholson, T.L., Merkel, T.J. 2015. Bordetella pertussis transmission. Pathogens and Disease. 10.1093/femspd/ftv068.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica are Gram negative bacterial respiratory pathogens. B. pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough and is considered a human-adapted variant of B. bronchiseptica. B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica share mechanisms of pathogenesis and are genetically closely related. However, despite the close genetic relatedness, these Bordetella species differ in several classic fundamental aspects of bacterial pathogens such as host range, pathologies, and persistence. The development of the baboon model for the study of B. pertussis transmission, along with the development of the swine and mouse model for the study of Bordetella bronchiseptica, has enabled the investigation of different aspects of transmission including the route, attack rate, role of bacterial and host factors, and the impact of vaccination on transmission. This review will focus on Bordetella pertussis transmission and how the animal models of the closely related Bordetella bronchiseptica have increased our understanding of B. pertussis transmission.