Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's HealthDiscover the forgotten story of Mary Mallon—the real Typhoid Mary—in this humanizing portrait offering a window into the ethical dilemmas of public health policy that continue to haunt us in the COVID era. She was an Irish immigrant cook. Between 1900 and 1907, she infected 22 New Yorkers with typhoid fever through her puddings and cakes; one of them died. Tracked down through epidemiological detective work, she was finally apprehended as she hid behind a barricade of trashcans. To protect the public's health, authorities isolated her on Manhattan’s North Brother Island, where she died some 30 years later. This book tells the remarkable story of Mary Mallon—the real Typhoid Mary. Combining social history with biography, historian Judith Leavitt re-creates early 20th-century New York City, a world of strict class divisions and prejudice against immigrants and women. Leavitt engages the reader with the excitement of the early days of microbiology and brings to life the conflicting perspectives of journalists, public health officials, the law, and Mary Mallon herself. Leavitt’s readable account illuminates dilemmas that continue to haunt us in the age of COVID-19. To what degree are we willing to sacrifice individual liberty to protect the public's health? How far should we go? For anyone who is concerned about the threats and quandaries posed by new epidemics, Typhoid Mary is a vivid reminder of the human side of disease and disease control. |
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Alphonse Cotils bacilli bacteriology Baker Biggs Board of Health Briehof carriers of typhoid Chapin continued court Curious Career dangerous death domestic employment epidemic example February feces George Soper grateful habeas corpus health authorities health department health policy healthy carriers healthy typhoid Hermann Biggs History Hoffman/Marr Collection Ibid identified immigrant incarceration individual infected Irish isolation JAMA Josephine Baker Journal July June 20 laboratory Lederle liberty lived lon's March Mary Mallon Mary Mallon's story Medicine menace ment Moersch newspaper North Brother Island NYCDH O'Neill outbreak Park patients person phoid physicians Plavska problem protect public health quarantine release reporter returned to cooking Riverside Hospital Rosenau Sherman sick social stool tion traced twentieth century typhoid bacilli typhoid carriers typhoid fever typhoid fever carriers Typhoid Mary University Press Willard Parker woman women wrote York American York City York City Health York World Yorkers