Who discovered Typhoid Fever?

Around 430 - 426 B.C., a devastating plague, which some believe to have been typhoid fever, killed one third of the population of Athens, including their leader Pericles. The balance of power shifted from Athens to Sparta, ending the Golden Age of Pericles that had marked Athenian dominance in the ancient world. Ancient historian Thucydides also contracted the disease, but he survived to write about the plague. His writings are the primary source on this outbreak. The cause of the plague has long been disputed, with modern academics and medical scientists considering epidemic typhus the most likely cause. However, a study in 2006 by Manolis Papagrigorakis of the University of Athens detected DNA sequences similar to those of the bacterium responsible for typhoid fever.[5] Other scientists have disputed the findings, citing serious methodologic flaws in the dental pulp-derived DNA study. In addition, as the disease is most commonly transmitted through poor hygiene habits and public sanitation conditions, it is an unlikely cause of a widespread plague, emerging in Africa and moving into the Greek city states, as reported by Thucydides.

In 1860-1900, typhoid fever mortality rate in Chicago averaged 65 per 100,000 people a year. The worst year was 1891, when the typhoid death rate was 174 per 100,000 persons.[2]

In 1897, Edward Almwroth Wright developed the effective vaccine.

the first person who got it. i'm sure they figured out something was amiss.

Mary

Mary Mallon, she was responsible for the Typhoid Fever. Dr. George Soper discovered the outbreaks of Typhoid Fever and suspected that Mary was behind all this after she moved to Long Island.

Please see the web pages for more details on Typhoid fever. It is a disease of unknown origin.