Typhoid Mary History: Who Is Mary Mallon?

Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary, was an Irish-born cook believed to have infected 53 people with Typhoid fever, three of whom died, and the first person identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease pathogen, Salmonella Typhi. She was born on September 23, 1869, in Cookstown, Country Tyrone, Ireland (Now North Ireland).

According to reports, she was born with Typhoid because her mother was infected during pregnancy. At the age of 15, she immigrated to the United States and worked as a maid but eventually became a cook for affluent families.

Mallon worked for many families and infected them with the disease. In late 1906, she was hired by Walter Bowen, whose family lived on Park Avenue. Their maid got sick and soon after their only daughter got sick and died. This helped identify Mallon as the source of the infections.

Mallon was arrested as a public health threat. She was forced into an ambulance by five policemen and Dr Josephine Baker, who at some point had to sit on Mallon to restrain her. She was sentenced to quarantine on North Brother Island. After a publication of her situation in the Journal of the American Medical Association, she attracted extensive media attention and received the nickname, Typhoid Mary.

Mallon spent the rest of her life in quarantine at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island. She was quite active until she suffered a stroke in 1932; afterward, she was confined to the hospital. She never completed her recovery and on November 11, 1983, she died of pneumonia at age 69.