We report a case of skin and soft tissue infection, peritonitis and bacteriemia in a 51-year-old drug abuse male. His wife found him lifeless lying on the kitchen floor at his residence. At the time of autopsy, multiple skin ulcers with deep soft tissue infection and peritonitis were found on gross examination. Cultures of postmortem blood and a swab of soft tissue were positive for Shewanella putrefaciens, a gram-negative bacterium that had been isolated from many foods, sewage and fresh and salt water. This is the first reported case in the United States of fatal skin and soft tissue infection, peritonitis and bacteremia caused by this micro-organism.
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