There are about 16 different species of Bordetella likely descending from ancestors who lived in soil and/or water environments.[5]B. pertussis and occasionally B. parapertussis cause pertussis (whooping cough) in humans, and some B. parapertussis strains only colonize sheep.[5] It has also been known to cause bronchitis in cats and bronchopneumonia in pigs.[5]
B. bronchiseptica rarely infects healthy humans, though disease in immunocompromised patients has been reported.[6]B. bronchiseptica causes several diseases in other mammals, including kennel cough in dogs and atrophic rhinitis in pigs. Other members of the genus cause similar diseases in other mammals, and in birds (B. hinzii, B. avium).