Objective To investigate the incidence of experimental rabbits infected with BordeteUa bronchiseptica, and then research some biological characteristics of these bacteria. Methods Bordetella bronchiseptica were isolated and identified from nasal cavities of 63 rabbits with rhinitis in four experimental rabbits fields around Nanjing, and some characteristics of the isolates including toxicity to ICR mice, pathogenicity to infant rabbits, the growth and culture characterization, antibiotics sensitivity .etc were researched. Results 19 BordeteUa bronchiseptica strains were isolated, and the rote was 30.16%. Among these bacteria, 15, 1, 3 were characterized as high, low and no pathogenicity to ICR mice, respectively. Antibiotics sensitivity tests of 5 high pathogenic bacteria strains showed these bacteria had highly susceptible to Neomycin, Chloramphenicol, Erythrocin and Tobramycin, but they were resistant to Furazolidone, Lincomycin and Streptomycin, and the sensitivity to other antibiotics was different. Conclusion Bordetella bronchiseptica was one of the important bacteria causing rabbit rhinitis. The positive rate was high, and related with seasons. These isolates were high virulence to ICR mice and pathogenicity to infant rabbits. Their characterization of culture, morphology and antibiotics sensitivity were specific.