Who was Typhoid Mary?

About this episode

The episode explores the life of Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, who was an asymptomatic carrier of Typhoid fever in the early 1900s.

In the early 1900s, Mary Mallon, a cook, was unknowingly ahealthy carrier of Typhoid fever. Written by Claudia Jansen, Morgan Metz, and Marian MoserJones. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Hannah Keller. A transcript is available athttps://origins.osu.edu/read/who-was-typhoid-mary. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit origins.osu.edu . Learn More: · Ashurst, John V., Justina Truong, and Blair Woodbury. “Typhoid Fever (Salmonella Typhi),” StatPearls [online book] Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan–. PMID: 30085544. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519002/ · Bourdain, Anthony. Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical . United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010. · Hasian, M.A. Power, Medical Knowledge, and theRhetorical Invention of “Typhoid Mary”…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle

Topics covered

• Typhoid fever
• Public health
• Historical figures
• Medical history
• Quarantine

Keywords

• Typhoid Mary
• Mary Mallon
• Typhoid fever
• asymptomatic carrier
• public health history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Goldberg Center, Department of History at The Ohio State University, Department of History at Miami University

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