Gene Hackman's wife died of a rare virus that few had heard of before a major update in the case this week ... and TMZ has learned she had about a week after contracting Hantavirus before it quickly became fatal.
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00:00From what I've heard, she was diagnosed with Hantavirus, so Hantavirus is a virus that's carried by rats and mice.
00:12It's actually very rare to die from Hantavirus, so there's about 30 to 40 deaths on average each year in the United States.
00:20It's very rare compared to being hit or dying from lightning.
00:24There's about 70 to 80 lightning-associated strikes every year.
00:29So about half the chance of dying from Hantavirus than dying from just getting hit by lightning.
00:35That said, Hantavirus can cause a flu-like illness, and often it's confused by doctors or diagnosed as a flu or flu-like syndrome.
00:45People can have headaches, people can have fever, cough, chest congestion.
00:50Again, it's very rare, so it's not something that someone would necessarily be concerned about.
00:57It's often contracted after people have been cleaning an attic or a basement because they're coming into contact with the rat or the mice droppings or rat or mice urine.
01:08So if someone has been cleaning out a contaminated shed or something like that, there is a slight increased risk.
01:19Unfortunately, there is no treatment for Hantavirus, so it's really just early diagnosis and supportive care.
01:26So if someone was suspected of having Hantavirus or just suspected of having a severe pneumonia, I mean, it's really very similar to having a severe pneumonia.
01:36If you go to the hospital, you're going to be provided with oxygen.
01:40If you're not able to breathe on your own, you may be supported with mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit.
01:48And some people get that early type of intervention, can survive, and go on to recovery from Hantavirus.