Detection of Bordetella holmesii using Bordetella pertussis IS481 PCR assay

After our manuscript comparing the performance of PCR, culture, and direct fluorescent-antibody testing for Bordetella pertussis went to press, we obtained six isolates of Bordetella holmesii for the purpose of testing with our B. pertussis IS481 PCR assay. This request for isolates was prompted by the recent report by Yih et al. on the isolation of B. holmesii from nasopharyngeal (NP) specimens from patients with pertussis-like cough. Previously, B. holmesii has been associated with septicemia in immunocompromised patients and was isolated from the sputum of patients with respiratory failure. Yih et al. isolated B. holmesii infrequently from NP specimens during their evaluation (0.26% positivity rate, compared to 6.6% positivity rate for B. pertussis).