Mary Mallon, an Irish-born cook in New York, was the first person in the United States identified as a healthy carrier of typhoid: she spread the bacteria without ever falling ill. After outbreaks were traced to households she had cooked for, health officials held her on an island in the East River for three years, then, when she went back to cooking, for her last 23 years.

Mary Mallon ("Typhoid Mary"), New York, 1900s–1938

The story behind the card

Mallon was born in 1869 in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States at about 15. In 1907 sanitary engineer George Soper traced a string of typhoid cases to families she had worked for; Mallon, who had never felt ill, refused to believe him. She was held in a cottage on North Brother Island until 1910, then released on condition that she stop cooking. In 1915 an outbreak at a Manhattan maternity hospital was traced to a cook calling herself Mary Brown: it was Mallon. She was sent back to the island and died there in 1938. Officials identified about 400 other healthy carriers in New York during her confinement; none were held as long.

Türkçe oku

New York'ta aşçılık yapan İrlanda doğumlu Mary Mallon, ABD'de sağlıklı tifo taşıyıcısı olarak tanımlanan ilk kişiydi: kendisi hiç hastalanmadan bakteriyi başkalarına bulaştırıyordu. Yemek yaptığı evlerdeki salgınlar ona kadar izlenince, sağlık yetkilileri onu East River'daki bir adada önce üç yıl tuttu; yeniden aşçılığa dönünce de hayatının son 23 yılını orada geçirmek zorunda kaldı.

Mallon 1869'da İrlanda'nın Tyrone Kontluğu'ndaki Cookstown'da doğdu ve 15 yaşlarında ABD'ye göç etti. 1907'de sağlık mühendisi George Soper, art arda görülen tifo vakalarının onun çalıştığı ailelerde toplandığını ortaya çıkardı; kendini hiç hasta hissetmemiş olan Mallon buna inanmadı. 1910'a kadar North Brother Adası'nda küçük bir evde tutuldu, sonra aşçılık yapmaması şartıyla bırakıldı. 1915'te Manhattan'daki bir doğum hastanesinde çıkan salgın, kendine Mary Brown diyen bir aşçıya kadar izlendi: bu kişi Mallon'du. Adaya geri gönderildi ve 1938'de orada öldü. Onun tutulduğu yıllarda New York'ta 400 kadar sağlıklı taşıyıcı daha saptanmıştı; hiçbiri onun kadar uzun süre tutulmadı.

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Background reading: Mary Mallon

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