(NYT) – The types of Ebola and hantavirus worrying officials are very different from the species identified decades ago, raising new questions about how to respond.

In both cases, the news has been not only frightening but also confusing, even to scientists. The hantaviruses didn’t seem to be acting like hantaviruses, and the Ebola viruses weren’t behaving like Ebola viruses.

Hantaviruses are carried by rodents and other animals, and typically infect people who inhale dried animal urine and saliva. But aboard the cruise ship M.V. Hondius, hantaviruses were moving from person to person.

As for the African outbreak, scientists have made huge strides in fighting Ebola in recent years. They’ve created vaccines that can slow the spread of the disease and antiviral drugs that can cure infections.

But these treatments are probably going to be weak or useless. This is a very different Ebola virus. (Read More)