NOVA | The Most Dangerous Woman in America

The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Examine the complex case of Typhoid Mary, a cook who was quarantined for life against her will in the early 1900s.

In Her Own Words
Read an impassioned letter Mary Mallon wrote in 1909, when she petitioned the courts for her release.

Typhoid Mary:
Villain or Victim?
An historian argues that public health officials should share the blame for Mallon's behavior.

History of Quarantine
Follow an illustrated chronology, from Roman times to the present.

Disease Detective
Trace the outbreak of a mysterious illness, "dizzy fever," to its source.

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Funding for NOVA is provided by David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers.

Major funding for "The Most Dangerous Woman in America" was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Library of Medicine. Funding for the development of "The Most Dangerous Woman in America" was provided by The New York Council for the Humanities, Open Society Institute, and Wyeth Laboratories.