Rat nests and dead rodents have been discovered on Gene Hackman’s property, after the actor’s wife Betsy Arakawa died of hantavirus – which can be caught from such animals.

The partially mummified remains of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were found on 26 February, in separate rooms of their Sante Fe home, along with one of their dogs.

Amid the ongoing investigation, authorities have released a report detailing some of Arakawa’s last emails and internet searches, revealing she was investigating information on flu-like symptoms before she died.

A separate report by the local health department included an environmental assessment that found evidence of the presence of rats throughout many of the buildings on the late actor’s estate.

Arakawa died after developing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) around 11 February, a pathologist said.

This is a disease that can be caught from exposure to rodents and includes flu-like symptoms, headaches, dizziness and severe respiratory distress, according to investigators.

The presence of rodents was found in several outbuildings across the property and a live rodent, a dead rodent and nests were found in three other garages.

Live traps were also said to have been found on the property.

There has so far been no confirmation about any potential link between the rodents and the hantavirus disease that claimed Arakawa’s life.

Last internet searches and emails

Arakawa had open bookmarks on her computer which showed she was actively researching medical conditions linked to COVID and flu-like symptoms.

She also mentioned in an email to her masseuse that Hackman had woken up on 11 February with flu-like symptoms so she would reschedule her appointment for the next day “out of an abundance of caution”.

Authorities are expected to release more information soon, including redacted police body camera footage.

The materials were released as the result of a recent court order after the Hackman estate and family sought to keep the records sealed, citing the family’s right to privacy.

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Couple found dead

The two-time Oscar winner was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s when he died of heart disease.

It was likely he was alone for around a week with the body of his wife after she had died first.

Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for New Mexico, told reporters Arakawa was believed to have died around 11 February.

What is HPS?

HPS, commonly known as hantavirus disease, is a respiratory disease caused by hantaviruses – which are carried by several types of rodents.

It is a rare condition in the US, with most cases concentrated in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

The New Mexico Department of Health said hantaviruses are spread by the saliva, droppings and urine of infected rodents, which in North America is most likely to be the eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus).

The virus is often transmitted through the air when people sweep out sheds or clean closets where mice have been living, or by eating food contaminated with mouse droppings.

It is not transmissible from person to person, Dr Jarrell said.

The likelihood of death is between 38-50% and there is no cure, treatment or vaccine, but patients have a better chance of survival with an early diagnosis.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said it is “likely” that British Steel will be nationalised.

It comes after he appeared to row back on his claim that he would not bring a Chinese company into the steel sector again after the government had to urgently step in to save the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe.

Mr Reynolds, speaking to reporters in the Lincolnshire town, said that nationalisation was the “likely option at this stage”.

He added: “What we are now going to do, having secured both control of the site and the supply of raw materials, so the blast furnaces won’t close in a matter of days, is work on the future.

“We’ve got the ownership question, which is pressing.

“I was clear when I gave the speech in parliament – we know there is a limited lifespan of the blast furnaces, and we know that what we need for the future is a private sector partner to come in and work with us on that transformation and co-fund that transformation.”

Reynolds rows back

Mr Reynolds said he would look at Chinese firms “in a different way” following the race to save British Steel, but did not rule out their involvement completely.

The comments were at odds with his previous remarks to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, when he said he would not “personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector” again, describing steel as a “sensitive area” in the UK.

The government has taken over British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, the last in the UK capable of producing virgin steel, after talks with its Chinese owners, Jingye, broke down.

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The company recently cancelled orders for supplies of the raw materials needed to keep the blast furnaces running, sparking a race against time to keep it operational.

Materials secured by the government arrived at the site on Tuesday, but questions remain about the long-term future of British Steel and whether it will be fully nationalised or the private sector will get involved.

Earlier on Tuesday, industry minister Sarah Jones said she is “not ruling out” the possibility of another Chinese partner.

She said having a pragmatic relationship with Beijing, the world’s second-biggest economy, is still important and stringent tests would apply “to a Chinese company as they would to any other company”.

Asked for clarity on his position during a visit to the port of Immingham, where materials from two ships are being unloaded and transported to the plant, Mr Reynolds said: “I think we’ve got to recognise that steel is a sensitive sector.

“A lot of the issues in the global economy with steel come from production and dumping of steel products… so I think you would look at a Chinese firm in a different way.

“But I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in because it was one specific company that I thought wasn’t acting in the UK’s national interest, and we had to take the action we did.”

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The materials that arrived on Tuesday, including coking coal and iron, are enough to keep the furnaces running for weeks, the Department for Business and Trade said.

They are needed because if the furnaces cool down too much, the molten iron solidifies and blocks the furnaces, making it extremely difficult and expensive to restart them.

‘Chinese ownership truly dreadful’

Opposition politicians have accused China of sabotage to increase reliance on its steel products, and want the country to be prevented from future dealings not only with steel but any UK national infrastructure.

Veteran Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the government needs to define which industries are “strategic” – and prevent China from being allowed to invest in such sectors.

Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said reverting to Chinese ownership would be like finding “your house ransacked and then leaving your doors unlocked”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage took the same position, saying the thought the government “could even contemplate another Chinese owner of British steel is truly dreadful”, and that he would not have China “in our nuclear program, anywhere near our telecoms or anything else”.

“They are not our friends,” he added.

Number 10 said on Monday that it was not aware of any “sabotage” at the plant and there is no block on Chinese companies.

The Chinese embassy has urged the British government not to “politicise” the situation by “linking it to security issues”, saying it is “an objective fact that British steel companies have generally encountered difficulties in recent years”.

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Jingye reported losses of around £700k a day at Scunthorpe, which will now come at a cost to the taxpayer after emergency legislation on Saturday allowed the government to take it over.

During Tuesday morning’s interview round, Ms Jones said the government had offered Jingye money in return for investment and “we think that there is a model there that we could replicate with another private sector company”.

But she said there “isn’t another private sector company there waiting in the wings” currently, and that it may be a “national solution” that is needed.

She said “all of the options” were expensive but that it would have cost more to the taxpayer to allow the site to shut.

A YouGov poll shows the majority of the public (61%) support the government’s decision to nationalise British Steel.

It was Margaret Thatcher who famously said that in politics, the unexpected always happens.

And the latest evidence for that is a series of bizarre twists in the political fallout over Scunthorpe steelworks and China.

First, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has unexpectedly performed a shock U-turn on Chinese involvement in steel.

And second, those sworn Brexit enemies the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK have agreed on one thing: they want nothing to do with China.

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So is Mr Reynolds’ U-turn the result of being nobbled by Number 10? It certainly looks like it, given what appeared to be a Downing Street slap-down on Monday.

On Sunday, he told Sir Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I wouldn’t personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector.”

Pressed by Sir Trevor, he said: “I wouldn’t, no. I think steel is a very sensitive area.”

He even accused David Cameron – who famously took the Chinese president for a pint in a pub – and George Osborne of being “far too naive” about China.

And when Sir Trevor said: “There’s a high trust bar now, isn’t there?” Mr Reynolds replied: “Yes, we’ve got to recognise that.”

Two days later, pressed on his Sky News interview during a visit to Immingham docks, he said: “In this case, our difference of opinion on the future was with a specific company.

“I know there’s a lot of interest in the wider UK-China relationship, understandably so. But this was about this company.”

And he added: “I’m really keen to stress the action we’ve taken here was to step in because it was one specific company…”

So that’s clear then? Or is it? What’s changed?

What changed is that on Monday, Number 10 insisted there was no block on China from essential industries, even steel.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We already a have a rigorous regime for assessing any involvement in critical infrastructure. That includes looking at the role of China in our supply chains and investment infrastructure.”

Got that, Mr Reynolds? He has now, obviously.

Nigel Farage hasn’t. “The very thought the government could even contemplate another Chinese owner of British Steel is truly dreadful,” the Reform UK leader declared while campaigning in Durham.

“There’s no such thing as a private company in China. They’re all effectively under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. Clearly, the government has learned nothing if they’re prepared to say this.

“I would go further. I wouldn’t have China in our nuclear programme, anywhere near our telecoms or anything else. They are not our friends.”

Guess who agrees with that? “Giving another Chinese firm ownership of British Steel would be like coming home to find your house ransacked and then leaving your doors unlocked!” said an outraged Lib Dem MP, Calum Miller.

No doubt, the Lib Dems are outraged by China’s refusal to allow their MP Wera Hobhouse being denied entry into Hong Kong to visit her newborn grandson. And who can blame them?

Mr Farage also spoke about visiting the Scunthorpe blast furnaces last week, claiming: “Not, by the way, an out-of-character thing for me to do, because I worked for 22 years in the metals business before getting involved in politics.”

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Really? The metals business? Well, Mr Farage certainly has some brass neck. He was, in fact, a commodities trader in the City of London. OK, so presumably those commodities did include metal.

And what of the government? Despite Mr Reynolds accusing Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne of naivety, Sir Keir Starmer’s senior ministers have actively wooed China too.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, visited China in January to promote “new opportunities” for investment. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, signed up to close ties with China on energy during a visit last month and Douglas Alexander, the trade minister, has been in China this week.

Yet former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has insisted ministers must ban China from critical infrastructure and claimed former Labour prime minister Clement Attlee “would be turning in his grave”.

And what of Margaret Thatcher and her famous quote? Well, it was the Iron Lady herself who privatised British Steel in the 1980s – and opened the door to Chinese involvement.