A young California man died from the same rare rodent-linked virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife in February — with health officials discovering rat droppings at his workplace following his untimely death, according to a report.
Rodrigo Becerra, 26, had fallen seriously ill and was prescribed antibiotics the night before he was found convulsing in his Mammoth Lakes home, where he perished from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, on March 6, his family told SFGATE.
Becerra, who was just three days shy of his birthday when he died, worked as a bell hop at Mammoth Mountain Inn, where rodent droppings have since been found behind the establishment’s 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, director of health and safety for Mammoth Mountain Ski area, told the outlet.
“The trace amounts found weren’t concerning to health officials…We don’t have a reason for concern about workplace exposure at MMI for our employees or guests.”
The outlet reported there was no evidence of rodents or droppings at his employer-funded home.
Betsy Arakawa, the classical pianist married to Hackman, died in February of hantavirus in the couple’s New Mexico home — thrusting the rare disease into the national spotlight.
Hantavirus is caught through contact with feces, urine or saliva of infected mice — most often by inhaling contaminated air particles. Patients can develop flu-like symptoms that quickly progress to breathing difficulties.
Mariela Becerra said her brother was sick for two weeks before paramedics found him breathless and without a pulse, adding that he apparently suffered from late stages of the elusive disease, despite the coroner’s report stating his cause of death is “pending pathology in toxicology,” the outlet reported.
The hospital, which Becerra visited the night before he died, also ruled out the virus and discharged him.
‘They didn’t think that anything was bad enough to admit him or keep him overnight, but for him to pass away the very next morning is frustrating,” Mariela Becerra told the outlet.
“They ruled it out. If it even raises awareness to doctors that just because a patients says they don’t recall being exposed to mice, that does not mean that it’s impossible.”
A second individual who died from hantavirus this year also visited the same hospital and was prescribed antibiotics before dying three days later, according to the coroner’s report obtained by SFGATE.
Mono County Public Health confirmed earlier this month that three people died from the rare virus — and evidence of rodents were found 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 heath agency told the outlet.
“But in no case did they find a gross infestation, a situation that would pose an obvious health risk.”
Hantavirus kills about one-third of those infected, which is about 20 to 50 people each year in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Around 865 cases of the disease were reported in the US between 1993 and 2022, according to the CDC.
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