The Scandalous Typhoid Mary
The Scandalous Typhoid Mary In 1907, Mary Mallon was working as a household cook when an inspector named George Soper knocked on her employer’s door. Soper explained to Mary that he represented the New York City Department of Health. He believed she was a carrier of typhoid and had caused many people to become sick; some had even died. Mallon retorted that she felt healthy. She cursed at this intrusive man, who insisted on collecting blood and urine and stool samples, and she advanced toward him with a carving knife. Soper fled the scene, but the epidemiologist soon pursued Mallon...