Despite this extraordinary rate of eradication, controversy exists regarding the safety of the vaccine. Antimicrobial therapy for whooping cough usually consists of erythromycin. Two other species of Bordetella are also of clinical importance. B. parapertussis is a respiratory pathogen that can cause mild pharyngitis. This bacterium is similar to B. pertussis but lacks some of the toxins which make its sibling so nasty.
Biochemical testing can easily differentiate the two species.
Bordetella bronchiseptica is usually a cause of pneumonia, otitis media, and other respiratory infections in animals. It is seldom known to be a human pathogen. Its motility makes it easy to distinguish from the other two organisms in this genus.