Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, died from a hantavirus infection, New Mexico officials announced Friday, prompting renewed attention to a disease that public health agencies say is spread through rodent exposure rather than person-to-person contact.
Hantavirus is found throughout the world, and officials say it is spread by contact with rodents or their urine or feces. The virus does not spread between people, and public health guidance highlights that there is no specific treatment or cure once severe illness develops—though early medical attention can improve the chance of survival.
Clinicians say the biggest challenge can come early in the course of illness. Dr. Sonja Bartolome of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas described how the disease can look like something more common at the start, saying, “It really starts like the flu: body aches, feeling poorly overall,” and adding, “Early in the illness, you really may not be able to tell the difference between hantavirus and having the flu.”
As the infection progresses, it can lead to a severe lung disease called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says symptoms typically begin one to eight weeks after exposure and may start with fatigue, fever and muscle aches. It can then progress to coughing, shortness of breath and tightness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid, and the CDC says about a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms from the disease can die.
The CDC began tracking the virus after a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region—where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet—public health officials have said. Since then, most U.S. cases have occurred in western states, especially in the Southwest.
Between 1993 and 2022, there were 864 reported U.S. cases, with New Mexico reporting the highest number at 122, followed by Colorado at 119. More recently, the New Mexico Department of Health reported seven cases in 2023 and seven in 2024, and the state reported 52 deaths between 1975 and 2023.
Researchers said they have sought to understand why outcomes vary. Dr. Michelle Harkins, a pulmonologist with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center who has studied the disease for years, said researchers still have unanswered questions, including why hantavirus can be mild for some people and very severe for others. She also said her team and others have been following patients over long periods in hopes of finding a treatment.
Harkins said, “A lot of mysteries,” noting that researchers know that mouse exposure is a key factor. She said patients who come in with severe illness can sometimes have no prior major medical problems, and that patterns among such cases helped prompt additional investigation.
Health officials also emphasize prevention steps aimed at reducing contact with rodents and their waste. The CDC and other public health experts advise minimizing exposure to rodents and their droppings, using protective gloves and a bleach solution when cleaning up rodent droppings, and avoiding sweeping or vacuuming because public health experts caution that these actions can cause the virus to get into the air.
At the request of public health officials, the CDC has offered to test samples involved in Arakawa’s case to learn more about the strain of virus and to perform pathology testing, according to the report.