Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease about a week after his wife Betsy Arakawa died of a rare infectious disease at their home, a pathologist said. But what do we know about the rare virus?
The couple was found dead on February 26 in separate rooms of their Santa Fe house, along with one of their dogs, and Friday the Results of medical tests was released in New Mexico.
Two-time Oscar winner Hackman was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s when he died of heart disease, and it was likely that he was at home with his wife’s body a week before he passed away.
Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical investigator for New Mexico, told reporters that Betsy Arakawa was believed to have died about February 11.
The post -mortem showed that Ms Arakawa, also known as Betsy Hackman, died at Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome – a rare but potentially deadly disease.
But what is it – and how do you become infected?
HPS, commonly referred to as Hantavirus disease, is a respiratory disease caused by hantaviruses transported by different types of rodents.
It is a rare condition in the US, with most cases concentrated in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
The Department of Health in New Mexico says Hantaviruses are spread by the saliva, drops and urine of infected rodents, which in North America are probably the eastern deer (peromyscus maniculatus).
The virus is often transmitted through the air when people protrude sheds or clean cabinets where mice live, or by eating food infected with mouse drops.
Dr Jarrell said it was not transferred from person to person.
The deer mouse (peromyscus maniculatus) can carry the virus that Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) causes in humans. Photo: Istock
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms, ranging from people, are thought to develop between one and eight weeks after exposure and the likelihood of death in the southwest of the US is about 38% to 50%.
Early symptoms of HPs include fatigue, fever and myalgia (muscle pain), with about half of the patients who also experience malaise, headache, dizziness, light headedness, chills, sweat and abdominal problems, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the American Lung Association.
Later symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath and pneumonia (lungs with fluid). Quick breathing and rapid heartbeat are also typical.
At this stage, the disease is progressing rapidly, which requires hospital treatment and often mechanical ventilation to help breathing.
What is the treatment for HPS?
There is no specific healing, treatment or vaccine for HPS, but patients have a better chance of survival if they are diagnosed early.
How common is it in the US?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began detecting the virus following an outbreak of 1993 in the Four Corners region – the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.
The agency said 864 cases of Hantavirus disease were reported in the US at the end of 2022 since the detection began.
What about the UK?
The most recent information on matters in the UK was released in 2014 by Public Health England (Phe).
The health body described how acute kidney injuries (AKI), caused by Hantaviruses in rodents, were linked to exposure to pet or wild rats – but there were only a handful of cases.
It added that certain Hantaviruses present in Europe, Asia and Africa tend to cause bleeding and kidney disease, while the new world Hantaviruses in the Americas tend to cause serious breathing diseases, including HPS.
