Rare virus that killed Hackman’s wife linked to 3 deaths in California town​on April 7, 2025 at 12:18 am

Three people in a rural California town have died in recent weeks after contracting hantavirus, local health officials said, the same rare infection spread by rodents that killed Betsy Arakawa, the pianist and wife of actor Gene Hackman, in February.

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The three victims were all residents of Mammoth Lakes, a popular ski town in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Mono County public health officials said in a statement last week.

The statement said it was “strikingly unusual” to have recorded three cases of the virus this early in the year, as the infection is typically detected later in the spring or summer. All three of the deceased began experiencing illnesses in February.

“We believe that deer mouse numbers are high this year in Mammoth (and probably elsewhere in the Eastern Sierra). An increase in indoor mice elevates the risk of Hantavirus exposure,” said Tom Boo, Mono County’s public health officer, who described the deaths as tragic and alarming.

While no further cases have been detected locally in the past month, Boo said he remained concerned by the uptick.

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Hantavirus was first detected in humans in the United States about three decades ago. In February, the infection gained widespread attention after it was linked to the death of Arakawa. Her body and Hackman’s were found in different rooms in their Santa Fe, N.M., home that month. According to officials, Hackman probably died of a combination of high blood pressure and extensive heart disease days after the death of his wife. He had advanced Alzheimer’s disease and may not have realized his wife had died.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantaviruses are usually spread through contact with rodents, including through mouse and rat urine, droppings, saliva or — in rare cases — a bite or scratch.

People can contract the disease by breathing in dust from dried rodent urine, saliva or droppings, which can happen when cleaning. It can develop into hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a lung disease that may kill about 38% of people who develop respiratory symptoms, according to the CDC.

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Symptoms of the infection, which is generally not transmitted person to person, typically start to show one to eight weeks after the first contact with the virus.

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Hantavirus is rare but not unusual, and deer mice — the only source of the virus in the area — are widespread in the Eastern Sierra region, according to county health officials. Mono County has recorded 27 cases of hantavirus since 1993, the statement said — more than any other county in California.

The vast majority of cases detected in the United States — 96% — occur west of the Mississippi River, according to the American Lung Association.

Boo said there was no evidence that any of the three latest victims had engaged in behaviours associated with exposure, such as cleaning poorly ventilated indoor areas or outbuildings with a lot of mouse waste.

Investigations by local and state public health officials found some evidence of mice in the workplaces of all three of the deceased, which is not unusual for this time of year in the area, as well as mice in one of their homes.

Health officials urged county residents and visitors to be vigilant for signs of indoor rodent activity and to be careful around their waste.

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