Typhoid Mary's story is quite fascinating and in the light of current events has some relevance.

There seem to have been a number of factors that led to Mary's intransigence:

1. Germ theory was still not widely accepted by the general public. It wasn't until the 1880s that Salmonella typhi was isolated. The bacteria was spread mainly by contaminated drinking water, and the incidence of typhoid fever decreased as clean water became more widely available. As a result in 1906 when the authorities were investigating the Oyster Bay typhoid outbreak, the concept of a "carrier" was a comparatively novel concept for the lay person and initially it was thought that clams were the source of the infection [Dinner With Typhoid Mary]. People could believe that an infected person could transmit the disease but found it hard to believe that an apparently healthy person could "carry" it. Mary Mallon herself said:

"I never had typhoid in my life, and have always been healthy, Why should I be banished like a leper to live in solitary confinement?"

In fact when she was in court her lawyer's argument was that "she had never been sick and could not therefore be a menace to society"

It is worth pointing out that this was the first ever identification of a typhoid carrier in the US.

2. This is speculative but as an Irish immigrant she seems to have been very mistrustful of authority. "She denied that she was responsible for anyone's sickness or death and refused to recognise the authority of science or government to label her a menace to society" [The Sad and Tragic Life of Typhoid Mary].

3. The investigator, Charles Soper handled the situation very badly. Mary was an intelligent person who read the New York Times and Charles Dickens for pleasure but as a person with high self respect and a good reputation as a cook, it is not difficult to imagine her reaction when Soper:

"appearing without warning, told her she was spreading death and disease through her cooking and that he wanted samples of her feces, urine and blood for tests".

Her reaction was in fact violent - she chased Soper with a carving fork. ``I can't help feeling that if that initial encounter had been different, the whole story could have been different,'' [Judith Leavitt, Professor of the history of medicine, University of Wisconsin, author of the book ``Typhoid Mary, Captive to the Public Health'' Beacon Press, 1996]

4. Mallon was not homicidal or uncaring. In fact when members of a host family became ill she would often stay on to nurse the stricken before moving on. One employer awarded her an extra month's pay for her sickroom efforts.

Undoubtedly she was unhappy with the prospect of losing income and liberty - who wouldn't be? But I believe she really did not understand the concept of "carrier". She was a proud intelligent woman, a good cook and perfectly healthy. To have the blame for so many deaths laid at her door was seen by her as a conspiracy, a persecution by authorities looking for a scapegoat and an unwarranted insult to her personal hygiene and abilities as a cook.