What is hantavirus pulmonary syndrome that killed Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa?

Authorities in the United States have revealed the cause of death of veteran Hollywood actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa. According to officials in New Mexico Friday (March 7), Hackman, 95, died of a heart disease with advanced Alzheimer’s disease as a contributory factor.

Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a rodent-borne disease. The rare but potentially fatal illness killed her a week before her husband’s death at their home in Santa Fe last month.

What is HPS? How is it caused and can it be cured? Let’s understand.

What’s HPS that killed Betsy Arakawa?

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a rare disease spread by infected mice and rats. Hantavirus can infect humans through contact with rodents or their urine, feces, or saliva.

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The virus, which damages the heart, lungs and other organs, does not transmit from human to human.

Dr Jeff Duchin, a retired public health officer in Seattle, told NBC News: “It’s a horrible disease. It’s not uniformly fatal and it’s not always severe, but the fatality rate is still thought to be up to 40 per cent, which is really high.”

Hantavirus can cause a severe lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, which could be fatal sometimes, as per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Arakawa and Hackman lived in New Mexico, where the hantavirus is most commonly spread through the deer mouse. Other known carriers in North America of the virus are white-footed mice, rice rats and cotton rats.

Symptoms of HPS

HPS progresses rapidly and causes three different phases of symptoms. In the first phase that can last up to eight weeks after contracting the virus, there are no outward signs of the disease.

“Between one and eight weeks after that exposure, someone might begin to feel like they have a flu-like illness,” Dr Sonja Bartolome of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told The Guardian.

The symptoms in the second phase include fever, chills, fatigue, stomach ache, rash, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, headache, dry cough and trouble in breathing, as well as muscle aches, especially around thighs, hips and back, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

“Initially, there’s nothing specific that would tell you you have hantavirus. You could think you have Covid or influenza, or just a really bad community acquired infection,” Dr Duchin told NBC News.

About four to 10 days after these initial symptoms begin, the third and most severe phase starts. It entails internal bleeding, fluid development in and around the lungs, shortness of breath, a rapid heartbeat, and chest tightness.

This can be life-threatening and the patient needs immediate medical care.

“And at that point, a person can die very quickly, within 24 to 48 hours, roughly speaking, without medical treatment,” Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical investigator at the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator, said Friday, as per CNN.

HPS can be fatal for about a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms, the CDC says.

Dr Duchin told NBC News that in its final phase, the disease leads to a “drop in blood pressure — leaky blood vessels — and that causes fluid to seep into the lungs and tissues and makes it very difficult to get oxygen and lowers the blood pressure, which is usually the cause of death and severe illness.”

Can it be treated?

Yes, but there is no specific treatment or cure for HPS. Early medical intervention can raise the chances of survival.

As per Cleveland Clinic, patients require oxygen therapy, fluid replacement, medications to stabilise blood pressure, antiviral drugs like ribavirin, among other care.

If the patients survive the late-stage symptoms, they typically recover in a few weeks.

There is no vaccine for HPS.

How common is HPS in the US?

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was first discovered in the US in 1993 after an outbreak in the Four Corners area – the region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

Between 1993 and 2022, the US reported 864 cases, including 122 in New Mexico and 119 in Colorado.

Seven cases each were confirmed in 2023 and 2024, AP reported citing New Mexico Department of Health. New Mexico has reported 52 deaths from the rare disease between 1975 and 2023.

Arakawa’s is the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year.

How to stay safe?

Experts say the best way to treat this illness is through prevention. To avoid infection, stay away from rodents and areas where they leave droppings.

When cleaning an area that was infested with rodents and their droppings, it is better to wear gloves and masks covering mouth and nose, as well as using disinfectant to sanitise the place.

Erin Phipps, a veterinarian with the New Mexico Health Department, said, other steps include “avoiding contact with or breathing in aerosolised rodent urine or feces, especially in a poorly ventilated area.”

“Never sweep up or vacuum mouse droppings, since this can spread particles up into the air,” she added.

With inputs from agencies