CHAPTER 1 Typhoid Mary The Story You Know Mary Mallon was known as Typhoid Mary She was a cook She infected more than 50 people She gave them typhoid fever At least 3 people died Typhoid fever is a bad sickness It can be deadly It causes high fevers It upsets stomachs It causes headaches It causes red spots on the skin It’s spread by eating food or drinking water handled by someone who has it Mallon was the first known healthy carrier Carriers have the sickness They pass it to others But Mallon wasn’t sick She didn’t have any symptoms Symptoms are signs of sickness Mallon was seen as bad But there’s more to her story 4
About 21 5 million people get typhoid fever each year They’re mostly from third-world countries 5
CHAPTER 2 Coming to America Mallon was born on September 23 1869 She was born in Cookstown Ireland She was poor Some people think she must have had typhoid fever She had it as a young child She was too young to remember She got better She lived Life was tough in Ireland She immigrated to the United States Immigrate means to move Mallon wanted a better life She traveled by herself She was 15 years old She lived in New York City She lived with her aunt and uncle Life was tough in New York Many immigrants came during this time They were poor Many people lived in a small area This spread sickness 6
