(CNN) People carried the coronavirus onto mink farms in the Netherlands, starting a viral back-and-forth that ended up with 68% of fur farm workers and their close associates infected, researchers reported Tuesday. They said it's "imperative" that the fur trade not become a source of further spread of the virus into the human population, and noted the densely packed conditions on such farms are ripe for amplifying the virus in ways that could help it mutate. A team in the Netherlands ran whole genome analyses of virus samples taken from animals and people on 16 mink farms in the Netherlands -- looking at the full genetic sequence of the virus for clues about where it may have come from, how it spread and whether it was mutating. The virus carries a genetic signature that links it to a strain that rapidly spread across Europe and into the United States early in the pandemic. It hit the farms around that time, in April.

Source: CNN November 10, 2020 23:26 UTC