Bordetella is a genus of small, gram-negative bacteria that colonise the respiratory tract of mammals (and occasionally birds). Two species drive nearly all clinical disease:
• B. bronchiseptica – the primary cause of canine infectious tracheobronchitis (“kennel cough”) and a contributor to feline upper-respiratory disease, rabbit snuffles, and atrophic rhinitis in pigs.
• B. pertussis – an exclusively human pathogen that triggers whooping cough (pertussis).
Both species spread via aerosol droplets, direct contact and contaminated surfaces, but they differ in host range and vaccine protocols.