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Common UK garden animals 'have the potential to harbour new strains', study finds - the next cull
Common UK garden animals like hedgehogs, rabbits and even the domestic cat have the potential to harbour new strains of coronavirus, a new study reveals.
UK researchers used machine learning to predict associations between 411 strains of coronavirus and 876 potential mammal host species.
Their machine learning model integrated characteristics extracted from genomes, such as protein structure, as well as ecological and other traits.
The results have 'implicated' the common hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and the domestic cat (Felis catus) as predicted hosts for new coronaviruses.
Amongst the 'highest priority' is the lesser Asiatic yellow bat (Scotophilus kuhlii), a known coronavirus host that's common in east Asia but not well studied.
The potential scale of novel coronavirus generation in wild and domesticated animals 'may have been highly underappreciated', the experts, from the University of Liverpool, say.
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