Typhoid Mary and the Ethics of Forced Isolation
After years of forced isolation as an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever, Mary Mallon, better remembered as “Typhoid Mary,” regained her freedom(albeit briefly) on February 19, 1910.
The catch? Mary could never work as a cook again.
Mary acquiesced and signed an affidavit stating that she
“is prepared to change her occupation (that of cook), and will give assurance that she will upon her release take such hygienic precautions as will protect those with whom she comes in contact, from infection.”
She also agreed to report in with the New York Board of Health every 90 days.
And with that, she was free to go.
Mary Mallon, a 37-year-old Irish immigrant, was employed as a cook for the wealthy Warren family on Long Island during the summer of 1906. At the end of August, one of the daughters fell ill with typhoid fever. Then, in quick succession, six of the eleven people in the household came down with the disease.
Mr. Warren hired George Soper, a civil engineer with past experience in researching typhoid outbreaks (or so he said, anyway) to look…
