African Swine Fever (ASF) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) are two highly transmissible animal infectious diseases, which have the potential to spread rapidly globally, threatening the livestock industry in the EU and other regions of the world. Both diseases have the ability to infect domestic and wild animals, but their ecology and persistence in the environment are poorly understood, and hamper the development of effective surveillance and control strategies. The ECOPEST project proposes an integrated “One Health” approach to understand the circulation and evolution at the wildlife/livestock interface of two major animal "pandemics" in different ecosystems in Eurasia and Africa in order to improve EU preparedness against the spread and/or incursions of these pathogens. To achieve that, some of the best European research laboratories will develop research in virology, immunology and genetics in order to better understand the ability of these pathogens to adapt to new species and environments and to survive in the environment. ECOPEST will monitor the evolution of viral ASF and PPR strains in hotspots of viral circulation in Eurasia, Africa and in strategic ports of entry for the EU. The capacity of PPRV to infect and evolve in EU populations of wild ungulates will be explored by building a library of host receptor sequences isolated from wildlife and small ruminant infections. The genetic and immune mechanisms of resistance of the virus in different species of wild African suids will be investigated by performing experimental infections or by combining transcriptomic cells from different suids with approaches of interferon gene stimulation. The environmental drivers affecting ASFV and PPRV maintenance in the environment will be investigated in temperate and tropical ecosystems. In addition, the project will focus on the persistence of ASFV and PPRV in animal carcasses and natural matrices (surrounding water and soil) by comparing virus survival in different climatic conditions. Different disciplines of social science and veterinary epidemiology will be combined to understand societal and cultural factors that affect farming choices and influence local disease transmission in smallholder and pastoralist systems. Methodological attention will be given both to broad inclusion of different stakeholders in value chains, making sure that the voices all stakeholders are taken into account to design local diseases strategies and policies. Samples will be collected in identified transmission hotspots to monitor disease prevalence using standard and innovative non-invasive methods for wildlife populations. These data will be combined with data obtained on host susceptibility, virus persistence, on contact rates between host species under different social and environmental contexts to develop a series of computerized transmission models. They will help to predict the risk of endemicity on persistence of the virus in domestic or wild animal populations, the impact of different control strategies and the potential impact on the survival of vulnerable wildlife populations. Based on animal distribution and environmental data, the risk of introduction and spread of new strains of ASF and PPR from different regions into the EU will be quantified and compared. Outputs from the different research activities will be translated into comprehensive guidelines and recommendations adapted to the needs of the different stakeholders and disseminated locally, nationally and regionally.