A nasopharyngeal or an oropharynx swab is sent to the bacteriology laboratory for Gram stain (Gram-negative, coccobacilli, diplococci arrangement), growth on Bordet–Gengou agar or BCYE plate with added cephalosporin to select for the organism, which shows mercury drop-like colonies. B.<unk>  can also be detected by PCR, which is more sensitive than culture. The primers used for PCR usually target the transposable elements IS481 and IS1001. Several diagnostic tests are available, especially ELISA kits. These are designed to detect FHA and/or PT antibodies of IgG, IgA, or IgM. Some kits use a combination of antigens which lead to a higher sensitivity, but might also make the interpretation of the results harder, since one cannot know which antibody has been detected. The organism is oxidase positive, but urease, nitrate reductase, and citrate negative. It is also motile.
Bordetella pertussis
Haemophilus influenzae
Bacillus anthracis
Rhodococcus equi
Mycoplasma pneumonia
Neisseria meningitidis
Legionella
Bordetella bronchiseptica