First report of iliacus abscess caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Othmarschen

The non-typhoidal bacterium Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Othmarschen (Salmonella Othmarschen) is a rare human pathogen. Abscess formation due to non-typhoidal Salmonella infections is a very rare complication in this antibiotic era. We report the first case of iliacus abscess after a short period of gastroenteritis which was caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica belonging to group C1, serovar Othmarschen in a patient without any underlying conditions. A young female presented in our hospital complaining of pain in right hip joint area. She gave a history of watery diarrhea 3 days before the onset of pain. On examination the patient was ill-looking and there was tenderness in the right hip joint area. S. enterica was identified using 16S rRNA gene amplification by PCR and serotyped to be serovar Othmarschen from the pus sample of iliacus abscess. This is the first reported case of iliacus abscess due to Salmonella serover Othmarschen infection. Our case suggests that S. enterica serovar Othmarschen can cause severe focal infections associated with gastroenteritis. The literature on the rare association of Salmonella enterica and abscess formation is reviewed.