Reporters quickly developed the story. By 1935, they claimed that 21 deaths were due to the "Mummy's Curse." However,according to Herbert E. Winlock,the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City ,by 1934, only eight people directly connected to the tomb had died. Indeed, Howard Carter, the man who acturally opened the tomb, lived to almost 65 before dying of natural causes.
But perhaps some connection did exist. In 1999, a German scientist suggested that the deaths were possible caused by mold- extremely small, dangerous growths that can survive for thousands of years, even in a dark, dry tomb. For this reason, archeologists now wear special masks and gloves when unwrapping a mummy.