Case report: post-salmonellosis abscess positive for Salmonella Oranienburg

Salmonella gastroenteritis is a self-limited infection in immunocompetent adults. Salmonella Oranienburg is a serovar that has recently caused outbreaks of gastroenteritis traced to contact with a pet turtle. Extraintestinal focal infections (EFIs) with invasive Salmonella have been reported uncommonly, examples of which include mycotic aneurysm and spinal osteomyelitis.

The patient is an otherwise healthy 39-year-old male with sleep apnea presenting with pain and swelling in the left anterior chest wall several months after an episode of Salmonella gastroenteritis and bacteremia which was treated successfully with intravenous (IV) antibiotics. He was found to have a costochondral joint abscess with operative cultures positive for S. Oranienburg, a serovar reported to have been associated with pet turtles and onions in recent CDC and FDA news releases. Of note, the joint abscess began development 2-3 months after his episode of Salmonella bacteremia. At the time of surgical treatment, nearly 6 months had passed since the initial episode of gastroenteritis and bacteremia.

Delayed development of a sternocostal joint abscess after Salmonella bacteremia in an otherwise healthy adult male is an unusual presentation. The patient had two different exposures: a fast food chicken lunch and a pet turtle at home. Extraintestinal focal infections with invasive Salmonella are very uncommonly reported in healthy adult patients treated in developed countries. To our knowledge, we report this sequala for the first time.