A week after the bodies of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were discovered in their $4million New Mexico property, a health assessment was conducted by the state with some disturbing findings
The home where Hollywood legend Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa tragically passed away in February was reportedly infested with rats carrying a lethal disease, it has been revealed. The married couple were found dead along with one of their dogs at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on February 26.
Two-time Oscar winner Hackman, 95, was likely at home alone with the body of his wife for a week before he passed away himself, the sheriff of Santa Fe in New Mexico, US, told a press conference last month.
The post-mortem examination showed Ms Arakawa, also known as Betsy Hackman, 65, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – a rare but potentially fatal disease which spreads to humans through infected rodent droppings or saliva. A pathologist said Hackman died of heart disease a week after Arakawa died of a rare infectious disease.
A health assessment carried out by the New Mexico Department of Public Health a week after the bodies were discovered found dead rodents and their nests in ‘eight detached outbuildings’ on the Hackman property, making it a ‘breeding ground’ for the deadly hantavirus, according to TMZ.
The lethal hantavirus typically spreads through rodent urine and droppings that one may come into contact with when cleaning a basement or an attic. Droppings were discovered in three garages, two casitas, and three sheds on the property.
According to the American publication, inspectors discovered a live rodent, a dead rodent and a rodent nest in three additional garages on the premises. The health assessment was carried out to ensure the safety of first responders or others who might visit the property from the virus.
The findings indicated that the main residence was classified as ‘low-risk’, with no evidence of rodent infestation inside. The hantavirus was initially identified in South Korea in 1978 when scientists isolated the virus from a field mouse.
The virus is uncommon in the US, with less than 50 cases reported annually. To put it into perspective, around 2,000 cases of West Nile Virus are reported in the US each year. However, following Ms Arakawa’s death, the virus claimed three more lives in Mammoth Lakes, California.