Health officials in Marshall County are investigating a cluster of Salmonella cases among people who attended this year's Axtell Days festival, a four-day community celebration held August 6 through 9 in the small northeastern Kansas town. The Marshall County Health Department is asking anyone who attended the festival, whether they got sick or not, to fill out an online survey as investigators try to trace how the bacteria spread.
The request for attendee surveys was first reported by FOX4KC, which detailed how health officials in northern Kansas asked recent festival attendees to complete a questionnaire after reports of Salmonella infections began surfacing. Axtell is home to roughly 406 residents, according to Census Reporter estimates cited by World Population Review, meaning an illness cluster tied to one of the town's biggest annual gatherings can touch a meaningful share of the local population. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is working alongside the county health department on the investigation, per the same report.
Axtell Days was held in town from August 6 through 9. Food stands at events like this may be subject to food-safety regulation and inspection.
What the Survey Asks
The survey the Marshall County Health Department is circulating takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete and is open to everyone who attended the festival, not just those who fell ill. Including healthy attendees is standard practice for this kind of investigation, since it allows epidemiologists to compare what sick and non-sick people ate or did to isolate a likely source, a method consistent with KDHE's own guidelines for centralized interviews using standardized questionnaires during foodborne illness investigations.
Participation in the survey is voluntary. Anyone with questions about the investigation can call the Marshall County Health Department at 785-562-3485, while the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's epidemiology hotline can be reached at 877-427-7317, the outlet's report noted.
How Salmonella Spreads and What It Causes
Salmonella can be transmitted through eating contaminated food, drinking or contacting contaminated water, or touching surfaces where animals live, according to the same reporting. The CDC has also noted that chickens and chicken-related products can lead to people contracting the bacteria. Symptoms typically include diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, headache and stomach cramps, and in rare cases the infection can lead to more serious blood, bone and joint infections, per the CDC.
Nationally, the CDC estimates Salmonella causes about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths every year in the United States, making it one of the country's most persistent foodborne illness threats. The agency and the FDA are separately investigating a nationwide Salmonella Javiana outbreak that has sickened 431 people across 32 states and has been linked to contaminated jalapeño peppers, an unrelated but concurrent reminder of how widely the bacteria can spread through the food supply.
Why Pinning Down the Source Takes Time
Investigators continue to work to identify a precise source. The investigation remains ongoing.
Until survey results and lab work are finalized, no specific vendor or food item at Axtell Days has been confirmed as the source. Outdoor summer events in Kansas carry their own contamination risks beyond the food itself, according to an April food safety warning from K-State Research and Extension, which pointed to uncleaned beverage coolers as a particular hazard since standing water inside them can siphon back and contaminate ice and drink containers. Cross-contamination from melting ice chests and other temporary food service setups is something state regulators and university extension experts monitor closely during Kansas's warm-weather festival season.
The Axtell cluster remains under investigation as officials gather information from festival attendees. For now, Marshall County residents and visitors who attended Axtell Days are being asked to do their part by completing the survey, regardless of whether they got sick.
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