A young California man died from the same rare rodent-linked virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife in February, and health officials discovered rat droppings at his workplace after his untimely death, according to a report.
Rodrigo Becerra, 26, became seriously ill and was prescribed antibiotics the night before he was discovered convulsing in his Mammoth Lakes home on March 6, where he died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, according to his family.
Becerra, who died just three days before his birthday, worked as a bellhop at the Mammoth Mountain Inn, where rodent droppings have been discovered behind the front desk.
“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),” David Andrews, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area’s director of health and safety, told the outlet.
“Health officials were not concerned with the trace amounts found. We have no reason to be concerned about workplace exposure at MMI for either our employees or guests.”
According to the outlet, there was no evidence of rodents or droppings in his employer-funded home.
Betsy Arakawa, Hackman’s classical pianist wife, died in February of hantavirus in their New Mexico home, bringing the rare disease to national attention.
Hantavirus is transmitted through contact with infected mice’s feces, urine, or saliva, most commonly by inhaling contaminated air particles. Patients may experience flu-like symptoms that quickly progress to breathing difficulties.
Mariela Becerra said her brother had been sick for two weeks before paramedics discovered him breathless and without a pulse, and that he appeared to have died from the late stages of the elusive disease, despite the coroner’s report stating his cause of death was “pending pathology in toxicology,” according to the outlet.
The hospital, where Becerra spent the night before his death, also ruled out the virus and released him.
‘They did not think anything was bad enough to admit him or keep him overnight, but the fact that he died the next morning is frustrating,’ Mariela Becerra said.
“They ruled it out.” If it even raises doctors’ awareness that just because a patient does not recall being exposed to mice, it does not rule it out.”
According to the coroner’s report obtained by SFGATE, a second person who died from hantavirus this year went to the same hospital and was given antibiotics before passing away three days later.
Mono County Public Health confirmed 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,” a spokesperson for the health agency told the outlet.
“But in no case did they find a gross infestation, a situation that would pose an obvious health risk.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hantavirus kills roughly one-third of those infected, or approximately 20 to 50 people per year in the United States.
According to the CDC, approximately 865 cases of the disease were reported in the United States from 1993 to 2022.