Bordetella pertussis Bordetella pertussis Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus "Bordetella", and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Unlike "B. bronchiseptica", "B. pertussis" is not motile. Its virulence factors include pertussis toxin, filamentous hæmagglutinin, pertactin, fimbria, and tracheal cytotoxin. The bacterium is spread by airborne droplets; its incubation period is 9–10 days on average (range 6–20 days). Humans are the only known reservoir for "B. pertussis". The complete "B. pertussis" genome of 4,086,186 base pairs was published in 2003. Pertussis is an infection of the respiratory system characterized by a “whooping” sound when the
Spinal disease Spinal disease Spinal disease (also known as a dorsopathy) refers to a condition impairing the backbone. These include various diseases of the back or spine ("dorso-"), such as kyphosis. Dorsalgia refers to those conditions causing back pain. An example is scoliosis. Some other spinal diseases include spinal muscular atrophy, ankylosing spondylitis, lumbar spinal stenosis, spina bifida, spinal tumors, osteoporosis and cauda equina syndrome. There are many recognized spinal diseases, some more common than others. Spinal disease also includes cervical spine diseases, which are diseases in the vertebrae of the neck. A lot of flexibility exists within the cervical spine and