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A third party in the remote California town of Mammoth Lake has died of the Hantavirus, a sometimes fatal illness authorities say Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Jean Hackman, passed away earlier this year.
In a statement shared Thursday, the Mono County Health Department confirmed that a young adult has died of illness.
“There’s no clear sense that this young adult could have signed up for the virus,” said Dr. Tom Boo, the county public health officer. “There was no evidence of mouse activity at home. We observed several mice at work, which is not uncommon in indoor spaces at this time of year on Lake Mammoth. In the weeks before the illness, increasing exposure to mice and feces in this person has not identified any other activity.”
Huntavilus, found all over the world, spreads through contact with rodents or their urine or feces. It will not spread among people. Although there are no specific treatments or treatments, early medical procedures can increase your chances of survival.
Infection can progress rapidly and can be life-threatening.
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“It really starts like the flu: body pain, overall it feels bad,” says Dr. Sonjabartlom of Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “In the early stages of the disease, we may not be able to actually convey the difference between the hantavirus and the flu.”
According to the CDC, the virus can cause severe, sometimes fatal pulmonary infections called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. All three deaths in Mono County are related to the syndrome, which is spread by deer mice, health officials said.
Boo said the number of deer mice is believed to be high in the Mammoth Lake area this year, and “an increase in indoor mice increases the risk of hantavirus exposure.”
Boo noted that of the three deaths reported so far in the county, he does not believe he is “engaged in activities normally related to exposure, such as cleaning indoor areas and buildings in poor ventilation and high in mouse waste.”
“Instead, these people may have been exposed during normal daily activities at home or at work.”
Color-enhanced transmission electron micrographs (TEM) of hantavirus particles. (Getty Images)
All three residents began to feel sick in February, according to a press release from Mono County Health & Human Services. In all three cases, “there were some evidence of mice at work,” but “there were many mice at home,” but no major invasions were found.
One person was vacuuming “in one or more areas where investigators later found mouse feces,” the department said, adding that the vacuum “aerosolizes the virus into the air, leading to infection.”
The second child died in West Texas from a measles-related cause.
The best way to avoid bacteria is to minimize contact between rodents and their feces. Use protective gloves and bleach solutions to clean rodent poop.
The CDC began tracking the virus after the 1993 outbreak in the Four Corner regions where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Since then, the majority of cases in the US have been reported in Western states. This includes 78 cases reported in California between 1993 and 2022.
Although the hantavirus is not uncommon in Mono County, 27 cases have been reported since 1993, but usually in the spring and summer, three cases have been reported “surprisingly unusual” this year.
Before the incident confirmed this year, Mono County had not seen any hantavirus infection since 2019.
Hantavirus has not spread among people, health officials said. About a third of infected people die.
Last month, New Mexico authorities confirmed that she died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a home she shared with her husband, Hackman. Authorities have not said how 65-year-old Arakawa got infected.
Investigators determined that 95-year-old Hackman had died of heart disease from complications on Alzheimer’s Day after his wife passed away. Their dog, Jinnah, is found dead from starvation and dehydration.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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