Hantavirus comes from contact with rodents, especially after exposure to their urine, droppings and saliva. Read about how common it is in California.

A week later, a medical examiner concluded that Arakawa, 65, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and Hackman, 95, died a week later of heart failure, probably unaware of his wife’s death because ...

California reported 78 cases and 24 deaths in that same time span. The California cases include a hantavirus outbreak at Yosemite National Park in summer 2012 that infected visitors staying in ...

Hackman died of heart problems and Alzheimer’s disease around Feb. 18, a week after Arakawa died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. According to authorities, the actor likely didn’t know he was ...

Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome typically begins with flu-like symptoms ...

Hantavirus, the rodent-borne pathogen blamed for the death of concert pianist Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, is a rare but often fatal virus that has killed at least 34 people in ...

Officials said Friday that Betsy Arakawa, the wife of Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome last month in the couple’s home in New Mexico. Hantavirus ...

A week before actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease in their New Mexico home last month, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, had died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare pulmonary disease linked to ...

While there have been cases throughout the U.S., hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is most common in rural areas of the West. The California Department of Public Health and CDC reports 78 cases in ...