23 September 2012
- MARY MARY, QUITE CONTAGIOUS -
Thursday,
September 23, 1869.
: 'Typhoid
Mary', the woman responsible for major outbreaks of typhoid in the New York
City area, is born.
'Typhoid Mary' is the nickname of Mary Mallon, the woman who became responsible for a number of outbreaks of typhoid in New York in the early twentieth century. Mary Mallon was born on 23 September 1869, in Cookstown, Ireland. As a teenager she emigrated to America, where she found work as a cook. Mallon was hired by New York banker Charles Henry Warren to be the family's cook during a summer holiday on Long Island. Shortly afterwards, one of Warren's daughters contracted typhoid fever. Next, Mrs Warren and two maids became ill, followed by the gardener and another of Warren's daughters. The owners of the holiday property hired investigators to find the cause.
Investigator George Soper, a civil engineer with experience in typhoid fever outbreaks, found that from 1900 to 1907, Mallon had worked at seven jobs in which 22 people had become ill with typhoid fever. The case that Mallon was a carrier was difficult to prove, as Mallon herself was perfectly healthy, showing no signs whatsoever of the disease. However, after being forcibly taken to the Willard Parker Hospital in New York, Mallon was shown to be harbouring Typhoid bacilli. She was then quarantined for several years, only being released on the condition that she no longer work as a cook.
Unable to find work that paid as well as a cook's wages, Typhoid Mary returned to cooking five years later at the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan, under the name of Mrs Brown. 25 people became ill with typhoid fever, and two of them died. Mallon was tracked down, and quarantined for another 23 years. Mallon eventually died on 11 November 1938.
'Typhoid Mary' is the nickname of Mary Mallon, the woman who became responsible for a number of outbreaks of typhoid in New York in the early twentieth century. Mary Mallon was born on 23 September 1869, in Cookstown, Ireland. As a teenager she emigrated to America, where she found work as a cook. Mallon was hired by New York banker Charles Henry Warren to be the family's cook during a summer holiday on Long Island. Shortly afterwards, one of Warren's daughters contracted typhoid fever. Next, Mrs Warren and two maids became ill, followed by the gardener and another of Warren's daughters. The owners of the holiday property hired investigators to find the cause.
Investigator George Soper, a civil engineer with experience in typhoid fever outbreaks, found that from 1900 to 1907, Mallon had worked at seven jobs in which 22 people had become ill with typhoid fever. The case that Mallon was a carrier was difficult to prove, as Mallon herself was perfectly healthy, showing no signs whatsoever of the disease. However, after being forcibly taken to the Willard Parker Hospital in New York, Mallon was shown to be harbouring Typhoid bacilli. She was then quarantined for several years, only being released on the condition that she no longer work as a cook.
Unable to find work that paid as well as a cook's wages, Typhoid Mary returned to cooking five years later at the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan, under the name of Mrs Brown. 25 people became ill with typhoid fever, and two of them died. Mallon was tracked down, and quarantined for another 23 years. Mallon eventually died on 11 November 1938.
