Spontaneous Arizona hinshawii peritonitis in cirrhosis with ascites.

Arizona hinshawii, a gram-negative enteric pathogen, causes serious infections in fowl, reptiles, and other animals. In humans, gastroenteritis, enteric fever, septicemia, and localized infections due to Arizona have occurred. There are no previous reports of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis secondary to Arizona, however. We report here a case of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to Arizona occurring in a patient with cirrhosis of the alcoholic type. The patient was treated with a 10-day course of gentamicin, and although she improved clinically, Arizona was cultured from the blood and bile postmortem.