Hantavirus symptoms, treatment, risk factors in North Carolina

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- After actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home, investigators have revealed their cause of death.

Hackman appeared to have died from a heart disease with Alzheimer's as a contributing factor. Investigators believe he died about a week after his wife passed away. She died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Dr. David Weber from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said hantavirus is a rare disease that is more commonly found in the southwestern part of the United States. He said roughly 850 cases of the disease have been reported in the last 20 years.

Dr. Nicholas Turner from Duke University said he's only aware of one case of hantavirus confirmed in North Carolina in that time, adding that the disease is carried by rodents like deer mice, voles and rats.

"What happens is their droppings can contaminate the dust or fecal matter of these mice and when that gets stirred up and people breathe it in, that's when we catch the disease," Turner said.

Despite the disease being rare, the symptoms are relatively common.

"They start off with things like fatigue, fever, muscle aches, and after several days, about half will go on to develop headache, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and some of them will then go on to develop the pulmonary syndrome of cough and congestions and filling up the lungs, fill up with fluid," Weber said.

The early symptoms of hantavirus can be quite similar to a more common disease in North Carolina.

"The beginnings of Flu A and hantavirus would look very similar, it's worth reminding people that in North Carolina, Flu A is going to be far and away the most common cause of those symptoms," Turner said, adding that sometimes doctors in North Carolina will test for hantavirus if the patient has recently traveled to the southwest and stayed somewhere mice might be more common, like cabins.

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Both doctors confirmed that there isn't a specific treatment or vaccination available for hantavirus, but that doctors can typically treat the symptoms if patients seek treatment early enough.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that if hantavirus progresses to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, about 38% of people end up dying from the disease.

Weber maintains that people in North Carolina should not be worried much about hantavirus, instead, he said measles should be a big concern on the minds of North Carolinians, adding that it's something he's "really concerned" about.

Texas just reported the first death from measles in a decade, in an unvaccinated child without underlying conditions. A possible second death is now being reported in an unvaccinated child in New Mexico. Weber warns that our immunization levels across the country, particularly in private schools, fall below the levels needed for us to lack concern about spreading outbreaks.

"It's not a question of if you'll see measles, it's a question of when, and this is because of less people getting immunized," Weber said.

To learn more about hantavirus, click here.

To learn more about measles, click here.