Typhoid Mary was a name sometimes used in referring to Mary Mallon (1868?-1938), the first known carrier of typhoid fever in the United States. She had recovered from the disease but, as a carrier, continued to spread typhoid fever germs to others. She infected at least 53 persons with typhoid fever between 1900 and 1915. Three of these people died of the disease.
Little is known about Mary Mallon’s early life. She was born in Ireland and went to New York, where she worked as a cook. George Soper, a sanitation engineer, connected her to at least six typhoid fever outbreaks in that state. Mallon refused to quit working as a cook, and so she was confined to a hospital. She remained there for over 20 years until she died on Nov. 11, 1938.
