Typhoid Mary

 

On this day in 1915 – Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon), the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

 

Either Mary did not believe she was a carrier or she did not care.

 

She was believed to have infected 51 people, three of whom died. She was the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease. She persisted in working as a cook and was twice forcibly isolated by authorities.

 

She died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation.

 

Was she treated unfairly? Could there have been a better way to deal with her?  Or was it the only way to prevent her from infecting the whole country?

 

Life is full of ambiguity and contradiction.

 

 

One impression about her is that she seemed to have no sense or concern about the impact of her behavior on the rest of the world?

 

That pattern of attitude seems to be alive and well today and  just as infectious as Typhoid Fever.

 

 

 

Today, "Typhoid Mary" is a colloquial term for anyone who, knowingly or not, spreads disease or some other undesirable thing. 

 

What would we call the iconic carrier today?