Scientists are still piecing together how the coronavirus spread from animals to humans.

So far, we know the virus likely originated from a bat and somehow jumped to a pangolin before it made its way to humans.

Now, researchers at Ohio State University are taking a closer look at coronavirus transmission, and how it's possible for the virus to jump from humans back to animals.

“So, we're looking in environments like wastewater and storm water. We're also looking at animals around Ohio, from domestic animals to wildlife,” said Dr. Vanessa Hale at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

We've already seen it happen. Mink in Denmark got infected with coronavirus after coming into contact with humans.

The mink got very sick and developed variations that can jump back to humans.

The virus does not need to jump to another species to evolve, but it is more likely to happen.

“The evolutionary pressures may be different in different hosts, so if you have a different body temperature, a different physiology, there may be various pressures that cause various types of mutations in the virus,” said Hale.

Researchers at Ohio State are trying to get ahead and find out more about these types of mutations.

It can help them understand whether a mutation is more infectious, whether there could be future infections, and whether the existing vaccines can fight against them.

Researchers say right now, only mink are playing a significant role in human infection.

It is possible for regular household pets to infect humans and vice versa, but so far, we've seen very low rates of that happening.

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A team of scientists are declaring that a total of seven coronavirus variants spotted around the United States are carrying the same mutation, as reported in a study published over the weekend.

“These variants tell us that the virus is adapting to us,” said UC San Diego’s Dr. Davey Smith, Chief of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health.

“The virus evolves every day that it's growing. It develops mutations and some of those mutations are beneficial to the virus and if they're beneficial to the virus in terms of being able to spread, then those mutations stay and that’s why we call them variants,” he said.

The new study reveals that the mutation is in a gene that influences how the virus gets into the host cells, leading researchers to worry about whether the mutation causes the variants to be more transmissible. The new study has yet to be peer-reviewed.

Meanwhile, the contagious UK and South African variants remain of serious concern.

“People should get their vaccine as soon as they’re offered it. That's one way to curb the evolution of the virus in general. So, the more of us that get vaccinated as soon as possible, the less the virus is able to grow within the human population and less likely to evolve,” added Dr. Smith.

He said that in the future, the public may need to receive annual COVID-19 vaccines, similar to how flu shots are given, because the flu virus continues to evolve.

This story originally reported by Jennifer Kastner on 10News.com.