Betsy Arakawa died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare rodent-spread disease with a mortality rate up to 50% in the American Southwest, officials said.

Weeks after two-time Oscar winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in mysterious circumstances, it has been revealed that the latter died from a rare serious viral disease called Hantavirus.

Gene Hackman died of cardiovascular disease about a week after his wife died of hantavirus, according to the New Mexico medical examiner.