Typhoid Mary was the nickname for Mary Mallon, an Irish cook who was the first person in the US that was quarantined for 27 years and four months as infected with typhoid fever pathogen.
Mary Mallon had worked in many domestic positions for affluent families before becoming a cook. She was a healthy carrier of Salmonella typhi who spread the disease, as many were infected due to her refusal of being ill. At least three deaths were attributed to her, but the exact number is not known, but it is estimated that she may have caused more than 50 fatalities. She was arrested and quarantined in 1907 and spent the last 24 years and seven months of her life in medical isolation at Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island.
