A new study predicts which animals will most likely cause the next deadly COVID-19 outbreak. Among them are cats, rabbits, and hedgehogs.

Biologists, using artificial intelligence, designed a prediction model that could prioritize potential hosts of already-existing virus strains that have not reached humans yet.

“We want to know where the next coronavirus might come from,” said Dr. Marcus Blagrove, a University of Liverpool virologist who worked on the study.

Their findings, published in Nature Communications, describe how they used artificial intelligence to predict previously unsuspected animal hosts of a new — and potentially deadly — coronavirus strain.

It was easy to find out which of the 876 potential mammal species might host one of the 411 strains. It was more difficult to figure out which species could carry two strains at once, creating a breeding ground for a deadly mutant virus.

“One way [viruses are] generated is through recombination between two existing coronaviruses,” Blagrove said. “So two viruses infect the same cell and they recombine into a ‘daughter’ virus that would be an entirely new strain.”

According to the study, the civet, the common hedgehog, a European rabbit, the dromedary camel, some primate species, and domesticated pigs and cats were the prime suspects for recombination of SARS-CoV2 — the strain that caused COVID-19 — with potentially dozens of other coronaviruses.

Scientists have already observed recombination in some species. However, to identify novel sources for the undiscovered “daughter” strains, the algorithm based its assessment on biological similarities between known hosts and their related species, according to lead researcher Dr. Maya Wardeh.

“We were able to predict which species had the chance for many coronaviruses to infect them,” she said. “Either because they are very closely related [to a species known to carry a coronavirus] or because they share the same geographical space.”

The researchers hope these findings will help encourage a more thorough monitoring of how and where humans interact with wildlife.

“This is not a reason to demonize these species,” said Dr. Wardeh. More often than not, the viral “spillover” from animals is a result of reckless human activity.