{"id":13762,"date":"2025-03-18T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13762"},"modified":"2025-03-12T05:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T05:44:56","slug":"hantavirus-betsy-arakawa-gene-hackman-hps-hfrs-zoonotic-disease-march-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/hantavirus-betsy-arakawa-gene-hackman-hps-hfrs-zoonotic-disease-march-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Hantavirus: here\u2019s what you need to know about the infection that killed Gene Hackman\u2019s wife, Betsy Arakawa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n \n
\n Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa.\n Featureflash Photo Agency\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Adam Taylor<\/a>, Lancaster University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead, along with their pet dog, at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico in February 2025, sparking intense online speculation about the cause of death. <\/p>\n\n

In March, New Mexico\u2019s chief medical examiner, Dr Heather Jerrell, announced that Hackman, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>, died from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease<\/a> \u2013 a combination of high blood pressure and a buildup of plaque in the arteries. Arakawa, however, died around a week before her husband from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome<\/a> \u2013 an infection transmitted to humans from rodent faeces, urine and saliva<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s unknown how Arakawa contracted hantavirus. Usually, (farmers and forestry workers<\/a>) are most at risk of exposure to infected rodents. <\/p>\n\n

There are at least 38 recognised species<\/a> of hantavirus across the world, 24 of which cause disease in humans<\/a>. It\u2019s considered a rare virus but it\u2019s also likely to be underdiagnosed in many areas of the world because the initial symptoms can be mistaken for cold and flu-like viral infections.<\/p>\n\n

\n