A disease-tracking website developed by Boston Children’s Hospital researchers has been able to track the spread of Ebola in real-time, often before new cases are reported by the World Health Organization.

The eight-year-old site, called healthmap.org, uses current feeds from social media, online news aggregators, and Twitter chats, along with official public health reports, to provide a comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases.

Traffic to the site has risen in recent days from those seeking information on the Ebola outbreak devastating West Africa, according to hospital spokeswoman Keri Stedman.