3 Dead From Same Rare Hantavirus That Killed Actor Gene Hackman's Wife

California public health officials verified that three persons in the hamlet of Mammoth Lakes died of hantavirus, the same virus that killed actor Gene Hackman's wife in February.

Mono County health authorities issued a statement on Thursday reporting a third death from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the small hamlet in the state's Eastern Sierra area, calling the situation "tragic" and "alarming."

Hantavirus is a very uncommon virus that is transmitted to humans through the urine, droppings, and saliva of rodents, generally mice.

“The occurrence of three cases in a short period has me worried, especially this early in the year,” Dr. Tom Boo, a county public health officer, said in a statement.

Infections usually occur in late spring or summer, so the three occurrences thus early in the year are "strikingly unusual," according to Mono County Public Health.

It took two weeks for officials to solve the mystery surrounding the celebrity couple's deaths, when they discovered Arakawa, 65, had caught the lethal virus.

Hantavirus is transmitted by contact with infected mice's feces, urine, or saliva, most commonly by breathing contaminated air particles.

The latest fatality from hantavirus in Mammoth Lakes was the third since early February, according to the county's health and human services division. The death was a young adult, but Boo stated that health officials do not yet know how the individual became infected.

“The home had no evidence of mouse activity,” he stated. “We observed some mice in the workplace, which is not unusual for indoor spaces this time of year in Mammoth Lakes. We haven’t identified any other activities in the weeks before illness that would have increased this person’s exposure to mice or their droppings.”

He advised people to be watchful and cautious in the presence of mice, especially around their droppings.

“We’ve now gone about a month without any additional suspect cases, but remain concerned about the increase in activity,” Boo said.

Deer mice are common in California's Eastern Sierra area, but Boo believes their numbers are higher than usual this year, potentially increasing the danger of hantavirus transmission.

The latest death comes only weeks after investigators reported that Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman's wife, died of hantavirus pulmonary disease.

Arakawa and Hackman were discovered dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home on February 26.  Hackman tested negative for hantavirus, and an autopsy revealed that the actor died from "hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributory factor."

The virus is rare but fatal, infecting between 20 and 50 individuals in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One-third of those affected die from the illness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe symptoms as weariness, fever, muscular pains, coughing, and shortness of breath. Severe instances might spread to the lungs and prove lethal.