A word from the Editor

Abstract

COMMENT She was first recognised as a carrier of the typhoid bacteria during an epidemic of typhoid fever in 1904 that spread through Oyster Bay, New York where she worked as a cook. Although she always vehemently denied being a carrier of the disease, 51 direct cases of typhoid fever and at least three deaths were directly attributed to her, and she was eventually confined to quarantine for life. While the rest of the world is mopping up in the wake of some of the most powerful tropical storms in history, South Africa has to deal with its own ‘Typhoid Marys’, those in our local authorities who cause death and destruction while denying that anything is amiss as they sit in their cushy office chairs. The reality, however, tells a different story. The small town of Delmas, in Mpumalanga, is still reeling after at least five deaths and more than 600 cases of typhoid and 3 300 cases of diarrhoea were diagnosed due to contaminated groundwater. In the same province, Chrissiesmeer made headlines when E.

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