Two phrases you never want to hear together are “typhoid fever” and “restaurant worker,” but, sure enough, the ancient scourge of the cities is back with a vengeance, this time in the Long Island town of Hicksville. Typhoid fever! Didn’t that go out with gout? Apparently not. Fox News reports that a food handler at Mama Sbarro’s came down with the illness, which is so rare now that only 400 people a year catch it. At one time, however, it was a devastating epidemic and was spread in New York most infamously by a cook, the legendary Mary Mallon, or Typhoid Mary. The disease is spread via contact between fecal matter and the mouth, and all you need to do to stay clear of it is to wash your hands after using the bathroom, as per the little sign’s instructions. Unless you eat food prepared by somebody who didn’t. But let’s not think too closely about this.
Warning After N.Y. Restaurant Worker Tests Positive for Typhoid Fever [Fox News]
Related: Did Ashton Kutcher Pick Up Hepatitis at Socialista?
