Typhoid feverisn’t a pretty disease . Painful diarrhea , gamy fever , sluggishness , nasty red rash , sleeplessness , headaches and coughing are typical symptom of the unwellness . Left untreated , typhoid fever can result in death . Typhoid fever is caused bySalmonellaserotype Typhi , the sponge that circulate through water and food , make the disease highly contagious .
That was the case in bit - of - the - century New York City . Typhoid fever was a grow job . The Department of Health had a portion on its photographic plate ; in increase to typhoid , it wastrying to squelch outbreaksofsmallpox , TB , diphtheria and whooping coughing that were also sweeping through the area . fortuitously , scientist had developed a sophisticated understanding of microbic diseases and how they spread — even though most of the world did n’t quite grasp all of it yet .
The Department of Health knew what caused typhoid , but deal with the facing pages of the disease was another question altogether . It ’s something we are dealing with today in our endeavor to quell the bedcover of coronavirus . We ca n’t simply cast off those who are transmissible to fend for themselves . So authorities must take the air the line between keeping societies safe from debilitating sickness and infringing on the personal rights of those who are sick . This same controversy turn over a febricity pitch in other twentieth - century New York when it come up to one individual : Mary Mallon , aka Typhoid Mary .
It might storm you to learn that Mallon was actually immune to typhoid fever . Though it ’s rare , some people like Mallon are asymptomatic carriers . That means they can carry and distribute the parasite but never have any symptoms . But even worse , Mallon was in a disastrous line of work for a immune carrier of typhoid febricity : She was a cook .
Who Was Mary Mallon?
Mary Mallonwas pay in Ireland in 1869 . When she was a untried teenager , she left for New York City , where she lived with her aunt and uncle until their death . Despite being alone in a large metropolis in a new nation , Mallon garner a full living as a servant in various households . By her 30s , she was cook serving a afters of ice ointment and peaches that was to die for ( quite literally , as we ’ll see ) .
In 1906 , Charles Henry Warren , a wealthy banker , engage a home in theupscale Oyster Bay biotic community . Six of the 11 in the home come down with enteric fever pyrexia , but make it . The Nassau County Department of Health investigate the outbreak , but could n’t find a cause . Dr. George A. Soper , anepidemiologistand sanitation applied scientist , was yell in to investigate . Soper was well - versify in the disease and cognizant of cause involve immune carrier .
Soper had determined the irruption was due to a person and not from food . Hefocused his attention on Mallon , who begin working for the crime syndicate just week before the first mortal fell inauspicious . After investigating Mallon ’s work history from 1900 to 1907 , he found 22 other affluent New York phratry Mallon had worked for in their summertime homes — and 22 of them had become infected with enteric fever . Perhaps she had used the bathroom without wash her hands and then prepared food for the crime syndicate . If so , she may have spread the disease .
Soper learn that most of the food Mallon served was cooked , and therefore most likely safe from the salmonella that do typhoid fever . But Mallon ’s trademark chicken feed ointment and peaches sweet could have very likely infected the families .
Soper was dire to find Mallon , and it took himfour monthsto track her down . He found the tough Irish cook working in a Park Avenue brownstone and when he explain that she was belike infect people with typhoid febricity , and that he require samples of her fecal matter and water to confirm , she lunged at Soperwith a carving crotch .
Nevertheless , Soper was determined to examine her for the malady , even if he had to drag her away kicking and screaming — which was on the nose what occur .
Typhoid Mary vs. New York City
realize that Mallon was n’t go to give up easily , Soper went to New York ’s Department of Health with his evidence and quickly convinced official to slay an inspector , an ambulance and several policemen to contribute her in . Eventuallyshe was arrestedand placed underquarantinein a cottage at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island off of Manhattan . in the end , Mallon was escorted to the infirmary where she test positive as a carrier forSalmonella typhi , the bacterium that cause typhoid . That was in 1907 . About 3,000 New Yorkers were infected bySalmonella typhithat year , andMallon was the principal rationality for the outbreak .
The press latched on to the tarradiddle and dubbed her " Typhoid Mary . " While some people were indignant at what they perceived as a violation of Mallon ’s civil liberties , the newspapers mostly paint her as a menace to order . One illustration depict her breaking egg - sized skulls into a frypan .
In 1909,Mallon sued the New York Department of Health , though she lost her case . No one ever explained to her what the implication of being a " carrier " meant . In 1910 , a unexampled health commissioner exempt Mallon and from quarantine under the experimental condition she never act upon again as a James Cook . She was finally released but went directly back to the only work she be intimate : cooking . And in many different spots across New York and New Jersey , includingas a James Cook in a hotel , a Broadway eating place , a spa , and a boarding house , again jeopardize public wellness .
In 1915 , another typhoid fever outbreak occurred at Sloane Maternity Hospital , and Soper was again called in to investigate . Guess who the James Cook was ? Typhoid Mary . Mallon was send back to North Brother island — this prison term for good . She stay on the island until her dying , 26 class afterward .
