Typhoid Mary (c. 1870-1938)

US typhoid carrier. Working as a private cook while carrying the bacteria that cause typhoid fever, she infected wealthy New York families with the disease (1904-07). Never ill herself, she was finally tracked down and hospitalized in New York City (1907-10) to protect others. Discovered cooking again for a New Jersey sanatorium in 1914, she was hospitalized for life. It is estimated that Mallon passed the disease on to at least 50 people, three of whom died.