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APPENDIX B. CDC and Council of State and
Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Pertussis Case Definition*
Clinical Case Definition
a cough illness lasting at least 2 weeks with one of the following: paroxysms of coughing, inspiratory "whoop,"
or posttussive vomiting, and without other apparent cause (as reported by a health-care professional)
Laboratory Criteria for Diagnosis
isolation of Bordetella
pertussis from a clinical specimen, or
positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for
B. pertussis
Case Classification
Confirmed
an acute cough illness of any duration associated with
B. pertussis isolation, or
a case that meets the clinical case definition and is confirmed by PCR, or
a case that meets the clinical definition and is epidemiologically linked directly to a case confirmed by either culture
or PCR
Probable
a case that meets the clinical case definition, is not laboratory confirmed by culture or PCR, and is not
epidemiologically linked directly to a laboratory-confirmed case.
Sources: Guidelines for the control of pertussis outbreaks. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/pertussis/guide.htm. Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. CSTE position statement, 1997-ID-9: Public
health surveillance control and prevention of pertussis. Available at
http://www.cste.org/ps/1997/1997-id-09.htm.
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