Hantavirus comes from contact with rodents — such as rats and mice — especially after exposure to their urine, droppings, and saliva.

Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home last week in a gated community in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Hackman, 95, died of cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease likely around Feb. 18, about one week after his wife died from a rare syndrome, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, on about Feb. 11, officials said.