Aleph∞One: a One Health-driven relational web application for integrated epidemiological data management
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa; Corresponding author.
- 216bit, IT Services and Consulting, Milan, Italy
- 3Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
- 4Office of the State Veterinarian, Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Kruger National Park, P.O. Box 12, Skukuza, 1350, South Africa
- 5CVS Health, New York, United States
Abstract
Background: Infectious diseases circulating among humans, animals and the environment are increasingly recognized as major global health threats. Their complex transmission dynamics and potential for cross-species spillover challenge conventional surveillance, particularly when data are generated across fragmented field, laboratory and analytical workflows. Despite the growing availability of digital tools for epidemiological research, many systems remain poorly interoperable and do not adequately support reproducibility or long-term traceability across One Health investigations. To address this gap, we developed Aleph∞One, an open-source, modular web-based platform designed to support the full lifecycle of infectious disease data across human, animal and environmental domains. This study presents the design, implementation and initial deployment of the platform within active epidemiological research projects. Methods: Aleph∞One was developed as a modular web application using PHP and the Laravel framework, with a structured relational SQL database and responsive user interfaces built with Blade templates, Tailwind CSS and Laravel Livewire. The database schema was normalized and designed to support polymorphic relationships, audit trails, timestamping, user traceability and referential integrity across key entities within a unified relational environment, including projects, samples, experiments, storage units, literature references and users. Core functionalities include dynamic data entry forms, spreadsheet-like bulk registration, interactive list views with CRUD operations, profile-based relational views, real-time dashboards, geospatial mapping and role-based access control. Findings: Functional comparison with representative research platforms indicated that Aleph∞One integrates functionalities that are typically distributed across separate software environments within a single relational framework. A key feature of the platform is its ability to aggregate data generated across independent or loosely connected studies into a shared and continuously evolving evidence base. At the time of writing, Aleph∞One had been operationally deployed across eight active research projects and managed 9519 registered samples, 29351 experimental records covering 82 pathogen species, metadata from more than 200 scientific publications, and the digital tracking of over 12000 storage tubes distributed across more than 170 biobank boxes. Data managed within Aleph∞One contributed to nine peer-reviewed publications. Interpretation: By combining open-source accessibility with a flexible relational architecture, Aleph∞One enables integrated management of heterogeneous One Health data while preserving contextual relationships and end-to-end traceability. The platform supports the progressive aggregation of epidemiological data generated across independent projects, facilitating longitudinal analysis and the accumulation of reusable evidence within a common framework. Broader multi-institutional deployments and formal platform evaluations will be required to assess generalizability, performance and long-term adoption. The platform is freely available at https://app.aleph-one.com
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BibTeX
@article{cossu2026alephone,
title = {{Aleph∞One: a One Health-driven relational web application for integrated epidemiological data management}},
author = {Carlo Andrea Cossu and Mattia Trapani and Jan E. Crafford and Louis O. van Schalkwyk and Raksha V. Bhoora and Lin-Mari De Klerk and Giorgio P. Biondetti and Henriette van Heerden},
journal = {Informatics and Health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.infoh.2026.10.002},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoh.2026.10.002},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Aleph∞One: a One Health-driven relational web application for integrated epidemiological data management
AU - Carlo Andrea Cossu
AU - Mattia Trapani
AU - Jan E. Crafford
AU - Louis O. van Schalkwyk
AU - Raksha V. Bhoora
AU - Lin-Mari De Klerk
AU - Giorgio P. Biondetti
AU - Henriette van Heerden
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Informatics and Health
DO - 10.1016/j.infoh.2026.10.002
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoh.2026.10.002
AB - Background: Infectious diseases circulating among humans, animals and the environment are increasingly recognized as major global health threats. Their complex transmission dynamics and potential for cross-species spillover challenge conventional surveillance, particularly when data are generated across fragmented field, laboratory and analytical workflows. Despite the growing availability of digital tools for epidemiological research, many systems remain poorly interoperable and do not adequately support reproducibility or long-term traceability across One Health investigations. To address this gap, we developed Aleph∞One, an open-source, modular web-based platform designed to support the full lifecycle of infectious disease data across human, animal and environmental domains. This study presents the design, implementation and initial deployment of the platform within active epidemiological research projects. Methods: Aleph∞One was developed as a modular web application using PHP and the Laravel framework, with a structured relational SQL database and responsive user interfaces built with Blade templates, Tailwind CSS and Laravel Livewire. The database schema was normalized and designed to support polymorphic relationships, audit trails, timestamping, user traceability and referential integrity across key entities within a unified relational environment, including projects, samples, experiments, storage units, literature references and users. Core functionalities include dynamic data entry forms, spreadsheet-like bulk registration, interactive list views with CRUD operations, profile-based relational views, real-time dashboards, geospatial mapping and role-based access control. Findings: Functional comparison with representative research platforms indicated that Aleph∞One integrates functionalities that are typically distributed across separate software environments within a single relational framework. A key feature of the platform is its ability to aggregate data generated across independent or loosely connected studies into a shared and continuously evolving evidence base. At the time of writing, Aleph∞One had been operationally deployed across eight active research projects and managed 9519 registered samples, 29351 experimental records covering 82 pathogen species, metadata from more than 200 scientific publications, and the digital tracking of over 12000 storage tubes distributed across more than 170 biobank boxes. Data managed within Aleph∞One contributed to nine peer-reviewed publications. Interpretation: By combining open-source accessibility with a flexible relational architecture, Aleph∞One enables integrated management of heterogeneous One Health data while preserving contextual relationships and end-to-end traceability. The platform supports the progressive aggregation of epidemiological data generated across independent projects, facilitating longitudinal analysis and the accumulation of reusable evidence within a common framework. Broader multi-institutional deployments and formal platform evaluations will be required to assess generalizability, performance and long-term adoption. The platform is freely available at https://app.aleph-one.com
SN - 2949-9534
ER -