Salmonella dublin infection: a rare cause of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and chronic colitis in alcoholic liver cirrhosis

Abstract

Salmonella dublin is a veterinary pathogen which rarely causes human illness, although reported human isolates have increased over the past two decades. This serovar of salmonella is unusually invasive and life-threatening, although the clinical pattern of human infection is not well known. We describe a 51-year-old cirrhotic patient who presented with severe liver failure, chronic diarrhoea and left-sided segmental colitis. Radiological and endoscopic findings suggested Crohn's colitis. During the hospital stay he developed a spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) and S. dublin was isolated in the ascitic fluid. Our report supports the view that this salmonella serovar should be kept in mind as a rare cause of SBP in cirrhotic patients, especially in those cases with chronic colitis resembling Crohn's disease.