Bordetella pertussis colonies on bordetella selective medium (charcoal horse blood agar with cefalexin).
Colony morphology: small, shiny, round colonies, mercury-silver in color. The colonies become whitish grey with age.

B. pertussis is identified by slow growth in primoculture (usually after 2 days), colony morphology, oxidase reaction, and slide agglutination with specific antisera.

Cultivation 5 days, 35 °C in an aerobic atmosphere. It is important that plates remain moist during incubation.