T he outbuildings of the home where Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were discovered dead, nests and a few dead rats were discovered.
Records obtained by BBC News from the New Mexico Department of Public Health showed that the animals were present in eight separate structures at their Santa Fe residence.
Ms. Arakawa, 65, passed away from a respiratory disease associated with hantavirus, which is spread by infected rats, according to earlier confirmation from US authorities.
She is said to have passed away one week ahead of her 95-year-old husband, who was suffering from severe Alzheimer's. at February, the dead couple was discovered by authorities at their residence.
One week following their discovery, on March 5, an environmental evaluation of the site was conducted as part of the inquiry into their deaths.
In addition to further rat droppings in two tiny outside dwellings and three sheds, it discovered rodent faeces, a live rodent, a dead rodent, and a rodent nest in three garages. They had also put up traps.
In the property's grounds, mice, a nest, and excrement in two abandoned cars or agricultural equipment were seen.
The couple's primary residence, which was "clean with no signs of rodent activity," was within 50 yards (45 meters) of all eight unattached outbuildings, according to an eight-page assessment from New Mexico public health authorities.
The remains of Ms. Hackman and her husband were found on February 26. Authorities suspect that Ms. Hackman passed away on February 12 and her husband on February 18.
Medical experts suspect that Ms. Arakawa's abrupt death was caused by hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a potentially fatal lung disease that manifests as fever, muscular pains, dizziness, exhaustion, and gastrointestinal problems.
A kind of virus known as hantavirus is carried by rats and is mostly spread to people by inhaling airborne particles from dried rodent droppings.
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infections usually happen when the virus enters the air via a rodent's urine, droppings, or saliva.
According to the CDC, the fatality risk is around 38% if respiratory symptoms appear during HPS. Between 1993 and 2022, the EPA documented 864 hantavirus cases in the US, mostly in rural western regions.
Advanced Alzheimer's disease was identified as a contributing factor in Mr. Hackman's death, which was caused by severe heart disease. According to experts who spoke to the BBC, he may not have realised his wife of over 30 years was deceased at the house where he lived because of his Alzheimer's.
