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.

Betsy Arakawa — the classical pianist married to Gene Hackman — died last month of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease linked to rodents, New Mexico authorities announced Friday.

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