Scientists study coronavirus outbreaks among minks in Europe

MADRID (AP) — Coronavirus outbreaks at mink breeding farms in Spain and the Netherlands have scientists digging into how the animals got infected and if they can spread it to people. In the meantime, authorities have killed more than 1 million minks at farms in both countries as a precaution. The virus that emerged in China late last year came from an animal — probably bats — and began spreading from person to person, as two other coronaviruses had done in the past. Some animals, including cats, tigers and dogs, have picked up the new coronavirus from people, but there hasn’t been a documented case of animals spreading it back to humans.