IL-17 is known to promote neutrophil recruitment through induction of the chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL2, as well as GCSF, and pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β.47,48 We found that gene expression for Cxcl1, Cxcl2 and Csf3 and Il1β was significantly enhanced during infection with B. pertussis as early as 2 h post challenge (Fig. 9a). Here, CXCL2 is linked to infection.