Hantavirus: New Mexico's long trail of disease, death
Mar. 7—Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the illness that killed Betsy Arakawa, wife of the legendary actor Gene Hackman, has a history of death and illness dating back decades in New Mexico.
The deadly virus has caused illnesses nearly every year in New Mexico since 1993, when the first disease-causing strain of hantavirus in the U.S. — the Sin Nombre virus — was discovered here.
Health officials didn't know Friday how Arakawa, 65, may have been exposed to hantavirus, said Erin Phipps, state public health veterinarian with the New Mexico Department of Health.
"I don't want to speculate about what may or may not have happened with any individual person," Phipps said. "But generally speaking, most people are exposed to hantavirus around their homes or their workplace — places where they spend most of their time."
Hackman, 95, was not infected by hantavirus, which is not transmitted from human to human, Phipps said.
Hackman died of complications from severe heart disease and Alzheimer's disease, while Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus, the state Office of the Medical Investigator said Friday.
Hantavirus burst into attention in 1993, when the first pathogenic form of hantavirus was discovered in New Mexico. That year, the virus infected 18 New Mexicans, of whom eight died.
Since 1993, New Mexico has recorded 133 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the clinical name for the disease caused by hantavirus, which has a mortality rate of about 35%.
The Sin Nombre virus has been found in a variety of rodents, but deer mice are the primary reservoir, Phipps said.
The home where Hackman and Arakawa lived is located in a hilly, isolated area about 20 minutes north of Santa Fe, surrounded by fields, forests and widely spaced homes. Woods and grasslands are ideal habitat for the deer mouse.
Hantavirus is transmitted to humans when they inhale the virus in aerosolized rodent droppings. People are most commonly exposed to Sin Nombre virus when they clean out or explore poorly ventilated areas in their homes, cabins or sheds.
Although the Sin Nombre virus was identified in 1993, health officials have identified cases dating back to 1975, Phipps said.
Most cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome are found in northwestern New Mexico, particularly McKinley County, which had 59 cases from 1975 to 2023, according to Department of Health data.
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