Typhoid Mary

Marry Mallon (September 23, 1869 – November 11, 1938) was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United states of America in 1883.

 She worked as a cook for families in USA. She worked as a cook for a number of families and all the members of those families got infected with Typhoid. At a one point of time she was suspected for spreading the disease and police arrested her to confirm their doubt through medical examinations. Doctors found the Salmonella typhii bacterium in her gall bladder which was responsible for spreading of the disease in each member of the family she worked in the past. Doctors advised her to get the gall bladder removed but she refused as she didn't believe that she carried the disease. At this point of time she became popular in the media and was dubbed as  'Typhoid Mary'.

She then continued as a cook. Again everybody around her contracted the disease. People denied to employ her as a cook. So, she kept changing her jobs frequently. Everywhere she went there were typhoid outbreaks.

 After arresting her, public health authorities returned her to quarantine on North Brother Island on March 27, 1915. She was still unwilling to have her gallbladder removed. Mallon remained confined for the remainder of her life. Six years before her death, she was paralyzed by a stroke. On November 11, 1938, she died of pneumonia at age 69. An autopsy found evidence of live typhoid bacteria in her gallbladder. Mallon's body was cremated, and her ashes were buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.