Bordetella pertussis adheres specifically to the cilia of respiratory epithelial cells. This ability to adhere is characteristic of virulent organisms. In order to define the contribution of various virulence factors of B. pertussis to the process of adherence, mutants deficient in single virulence factors were tested for the ability to adhere to rabbit cilia in vitro and in vivo. Two protective antigens were found to be critical to the process of adherence: filamentous hemagglutinin and pertussis toxin.