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Mary Mallon, Typhoid Mary

Mallon in dark dress, staring directly into camera. Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 - November 11, 1938), better known as Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was born in 1869 and emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1884. From 1900 to 1907 she worked as a cook in the New York City area and was presumed to have infected 49 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career. Under questioning, Mallon said she rarely washed her hands when cooking and felt there was no need to do so. Cultures of Mary's urine and stools, taken forcibly with the help of prison matrons, revealed that her gallbladder was teeming with typhoid salmonella. She refused to have her gallbladder extracted or to give up her occupation as a cook, maintaining stubbornly that she did not carry any disease. She was forcibly isolated twice by public health authorities and died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation.
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Title:
Mary Mallon, Typhoid Mary
Caption:
Mallon in dark dress, staring directly into camera. Mary Mallon (September 23, 1869 - November 11, 1938), better known as Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. She was born in 1869 and emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1884. From 1900 to 1907 she worked as a cook in the New York City area and was presumed to have infected 49 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career. Under questioning, Mallon said she rarely washed her hands when cooking and felt there was no need to do so. Cultures of Mary's urine and stools, taken forcibly with the help of prison matrons, revealed that her gallbladder was teeming with typhoid salmonella. She refused to have her gallbladder extracted or to give up her occupation as a cook, maintaining stubbornly that she did not carry any disease. She was forcibly isolated twice by public health authorities and died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation.
Category:
black & white • Medical: History
Credit:
Album / Science Source / New York Public Library
Releases:
? Model Release: No - ? Property Release: No
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Image size:
2700 x 4295 px | 33.2 MB
Print size:
22.9 x 36.4 cm | 9.0 x 14.3 in (300 dpi)
Keywords: