After Gene Hackman's wife, California hotel employee dies of rare rat virus: Top things to know about the disease

Weeks after Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Rodrigo Becerra, a 26-year-old California man, also succumbed to the same rare and deadly rodent-borne disease, news site SFGATE reported. Becerra used to work as a bellhop at Mammoth Mountain Inn, where rodent droppings have since been uncovered behind the establishment’s front desk.

Betsy Arakawa, 65, the classical pianist married to Gene Hackman, lost her life likely on February 11, the New Mexico Chief Medical Examiner Heather Jarrell had stated in a press conference.

Becerra's sister on his death

Rodrigo Becerra's family told SFGATE that he had become seriously ill and was given antibiotics the night before he was discovered convulsing in his Mammoth Lakes home, where he ultimately died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Becerra was sick for two weeks prior to paramedics finding him breathless and with no pulse, adding that he apparently sustained late stages of the elusive disease, irrespective of the coroner’s report that read his cause of death is “pending pathology in toxicology,” the outlet cited his sister Mariela.

“They didn’t think that anything was bad enough to admit him or keep him overnight, but for him to pass away the very next morning is frustrating. They ruled it out. If it even raises awareness to doctors that just because a patient says they don’t recall being exposed to mice, that does not mean that it’s impossible,” Mariela added.

“A very small amount of rodent droppings were found in the bell area and behind the front desk, very near the front entrance at Mammoth Mountain Inn (MMI),” SFGATE quoted David Andrews, director of health and safety for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.

“The trace amounts found weren’t concerning to health officials…We don’t have a reason for concern about workplace exposure at MMI for our employees or guests," he added.

The outlet said no signs of rodents or droppings were found at the residence provided by his employer. The hospital, which Becerra checked into the night before he died, eliminated the virus as the cause and discharged him.

According to the coroner’s report obtained by SFGATE, a second person who died from hantavirus earlier this year had also visited the same hospital and was given antibiotics before passing away three days later.

Hantavirus and its cases in the US

Hantavirus is transmitted through exposure to the faeces, urine, or saliva of infected mice, most commonly by inhaling particles in contaminated air. Symptoms often begin like the flu but can rapidly escalate to severe breathing problems.

Mono County Public Health stated earlier this month that three people died from the rare virus, and evidence of rodents was discovered in their workplaces.

“Note that investigators found evidence of the presence of mice in the workplaces of each of these three people,” SFGATE quoted a spokesperson for the health agency as saying, adding, "But in no case did they find a gross infestation, a situation that would pose an obvious health risk.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that hantavirus kills about one-third of those infected, which is nearly 20 to 50 people each year in the US. Nearly 865 cases of the disease were reported in the US between 1993 and 2022, it said.