Introduction
Bordetella bronchiseptica is a common pathogen in the respiratory ract of many wild and domestic animals, but it is rarely found in humans ¹. This pathogen is believed to be transmitted from dogs with tracheobronchitis ². Bordetella bronchiseptica is considered an etiologic agent of upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonitis, endocarditis, peritonitis, meningitis, sepsis and recurrent bacteraemia n people with immunological abnormalities ³. In human immunodeficiency virus and/or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients, Bordetella ronchiseptica can cause an interstitial pneumonia which can resemble pneumocystis pneumonia.

Case presentation
A 42-year-old African-American man with HIV/AIDS, not taking any medications including HAART and pneumocystis jiroveci prophylaxis since January 2007, presented in August 2007 with complaints of progressing shortness of breath, right-sided pleuritic chest pain, non-productive cough, and low-grade fever for last several weeks. He was diagnosed with HIV initially in 1999, during hospitalization or community-acquired pneumonia. The patient lso had a history of facial herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) which has been recurrent and a history of pneumocystis pneumonia in June 2005. Previous laboratory studies from November 2006 revealed a CD4+ lymphocyte ount of 20 and viral load HIV RNA of 65,833 copies/ml. He was a social drinker and had never used illicit drugs or tobacco products. HIV was presumed to be cquired sexually.

On initial assessment in the emergency department, he was cachectic but was in no acute distress. He had a fever of 38°C, blood pressure of 92/60 mmHg and regular pulse of 85 beats per minute.