bordetella species infections

J. PAUL DUFF

Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency Diseases of Wildlife Scheme (AHVLA DoWS), Great Britain Wildlife Disease Surveillance Partnership, Penrith, Cumbria, UK

Bordetella spp.

The organisms are inhabitants of the upper respiratory tract of humans, animals (B. bronchiseptica) and birds (B. avium — principally turkeys). Bordetella bronchiseptica attaches to the respiratory epithelium and has anti­phagocytic and toxigenic activities and can depress the respiratory clearance mechanisms — for example, by causing immobility of the respiratory cilia. These actions facilitate invasion of the respiratory tract by other organisms. Diag­nosis is based on culture from lesions, on sheep blood and MacConkey agars, incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24—48 hours. As mixed culture is always possible from respiratory tract lesions, the use of selective media such as Smith-Baskerville media is advised. Colonies are identi­fied by morphology and biochemical properties¹-⁸⁰).

Bordetella bronchiseptica causes a respiratory tract infec­tion in commercial rabbits and rodents known as ‘snuffles’. Bordetella avium causes respiratory disease in turkeys and occasionally other avian species. Bordetella spp. are not associated with specific diseases in European wildlife; however, the organisms may be isolated from respiratory tract lesions and occasionally other lesions, often in asso­ciation with other pathogens from wild mammals includ­ing aquatic mammals. Whether Bordetella spp. are primary or secondary pathogens in these cases is not readily dis­cernible. The organism is occasionally isolated from lesions in tissues other than the respiratory tract.