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Typhoid Mary
About Typhoid Mary
Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, was the first identified asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever in the United States. An Irish immigrant who worked as a cook in New York City, Mallon is believed to have infected up to 57 people, with three confirmed deaths, though sources differ on the final number. George Soper, a sanitation engineer, identified Mallon as the source of multiple typhoid outbreaks in wealthy Manhattan families in 1907. Mallon refused to believe she was a carrier and resisted quarantine. The New York City Health Department forcibly quarantined her on North Brother Island from 1907 to 1910 and again from 1915 to 1938, when she died. Mallon was quarantined for a total of 26 years, raising questions about the balance between individual liberty and public health. The case established the principle that public health authorities could restrict the liberty of disease carriers. Many other healthy typhoid carriers were identified in New York in subsequent years, though none were confined as long as Mallon.
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