Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary (Deadly Diseases) Hardcover – Illustrated, March 10, 2015

Gail Jarrow has a remarkable ability to tell a compelling story, the fact that the story is true makes it all the more interesting. I really enjoyed her previous book, Red Madness, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. I loved this one as well. This book is everything that narrative nonfiction should be, a compelling story, interesting characters, and a challenging problem. Disease has long been a source of great suffering and difficulty and it still is throughout the world. Reading a story like this helps reveal the many who have helped fight the battle against disease, some by choice, and others like Mary Mellon, very unwillingly.Mary's story is a sad one as she was as much a victim as those she infected, at least until she deliberately chose to ignore the warnings she received when she was released. She had the unfortunate honor of being the first healthy typhoid character identified in the United States. As such, public health officials weren't really sure what to do with her, so they locked her up. She wasn't treated particularly fairly considering the problem wasn't her fault. But her refusal to accept her status as a carrier made things even worse. The challenge of protecting the public's health versus individual rights is one that continues to be fought to this day.This book is both a fascinating individual story but also a story of the fight against a disease and the people who waged that fight. I can recommend this book to those like myself who find such stories fascinating both the historical aspects as well as the science.

Factual information, well researched about the Typhoid epidemic that hit New York in 1903. What was done to stop the spread of it. Finding Mary Mallon, a cook and a carrier of the disease. An account of the pivotal people that taught the city government how to clean up the drinking waters and what the cause of typhoid fever is.

Summary: Everyone’s heard of Typhoid Mary, but who was she really? Uncovering her identity was a medical mystery that began in the summer of 1906. The detective is Dr. George Soper, a sanitation engineer who helped control a typhoid epidemic that swept through the town of Ithaca and Cornell University. When a wealthy family on Long Island was sickened with typhoid, they hired Soper to figure out what had caused the outbreak. He eventually tracked it to Mary Mellon, their former cook. Not only that, but he was able to trace several other outbreaks to her. The book chronicles her capture and confinement on an island off of Manhattan for most of the rest of her life. The reader will also learn about typhoid, its role in history, and how it has gradually been eliminated from most of the western world.Pros: I had heard of typhoid and Typhoid Mary but knew nothing about it. I was appalled to learn of the lack of sanitation in the U.S. less than a century ago. And I had no idea that such celebrities as Abigail Adams, Wilbur Wright, and Stephen Douglas all died of typhoid. Although this book is nonfiction, it reads like a novel.Cons: You may find yourself looking askance at your tap water. And you will surely nag your children more to wash their hands

Child had to read for school, great price!

The problem with most books regarding Mallon tend to attempt to show her as a martyr. She wa neither a heroine or a martyr. She was a mulishly arrogant woman who received the fate she deserved. Mallon was arrogant, deceitful and brought the fate she suffered on herself. This book tries to remain neutral and almost succeeds. It fails when the author falls into the "poor mistreated Mary trap". Mary deceived and broke promises throughout her life sge had no one to blame bur Mary.

Very informative, food for thought

My daughter loved it

Who was Typhoid Mary? Was she a villain or victim? Were her assessors after fame or just doing their job? Was Mary to be the scapegoat for officials who waited too long to clean up their cities? Mary never offered her side of the story, but one thing is certain, she never believed that she was the cause of so much death, much less that she was sick. It’s all history now so we may never know the real story. You be the judge, after reading “Fatal Fever Tracking Down Typhoid Mary” by Gail Jarrow.Typhoid fever at first caused headaches and fatigue, but then came a high fever, stomach pain, chills and a red rash followed by death for many. As the deadly disease broke out in New York cities, thousands died. George Soper’s job as a sanitation engineer made him an expert on germs that caused disease. Now it was his job to stop this contagious disease from spreading. He found the filthy living conditions in cities, with their open sewers, contaminated water, dead animals in the streets and horse manure were spreading disease and death. He came to show the city officials how to clean up their streets and stop the deadly spread, but he found much more. He found a cook named Mary Mallon.She was a young teen when she crossed the ocean to America from Ireland. She learned her trade as a cook the hard way working as scullery maid until she mastered the knowledge needed to become a cook to the very rich. She was also believed to be a bearer of millions of typhoid germs.A mystery straight out of the history books laced with original photos, documents, illustrations and cartoons from newspapers and magazines. It reads like a murder mystery but it was all too real, filled with facts, real people and yet still devoid of all the answers. This is a good read but would equally make a good source for a school report. One out of three people who contracted typhoid fever died. Hell Gate was an island in New York’s East River originally set up to quarantine smallpox victims but by the turn of the century it held anyone who needed to be isolated and forgotten. Mary Mallon, a cook, was imprisoned on Hell Gate, to keep her from spreading the disease officials believed she carried. She died in captivity never believing or accepting that she was the cause so much pain and death. She wasn’t the only human carrier.This review was written based on the reading of an advanced readers copy. If you have a teenager in your life, who needs to do a report on a nonfiction subject I can easily recommend this title.Note: The illustrated cartoon demonstrating how flies spread the disease was drawn by illustrator Vernon Grant who would later draw Kellogg’s Krispies' Snap, Crackle and Pop characters.