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New technology has been developed by Boston Children's Hospital epidemiologist John Brownstein to effectively track the flu outbreak in the country.

This year, the U.S. is facing one of the worst flu outbreaks in decades.

"We are experiencing the worst flu season since at least 2009, and influenza activity in New York State is widespread, with cases reported in all 57 counties and all five boroughs of New York City," New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo told Fox News.

Brownstein's website: "Flu Near You" contains a virtual map with green pins. The green pins represent volunteers to the health website. The website has already attracted around 40,000 people and the number is still growing.

"All the pins represent the people who are reporting to the system," Brownstein told VOA News."The idea is, getting people with a small amount of time each week to tell us how they're feeling."

With the help of this new technology, public health officials can acquire useful information such as in which states the flu is predominant and by what percentage.

"And Flu Near You is showing that we've already peaked and are heading down. And in fact the latest numbers that are coming out from the CDC actually agree that this has already come down," Brownstein said.

An iPhone app has also been launched with a similar name, "Flu Near You" administered by Brownstein in partnership with the American Public Health Association and the Skoll Gl.

This app not only provides information on flu outbreaks but also offers vaccine finder locations.

Since the statistics from the volunteers are proving accurate with the official records, Brownstein is planning to use the same technology for tracking down other diseases as well.

Apart from Flu Near You he runs another website HealthMap that has tracked outbreaks worldwide for seven years.

Currently, Brownstein is tracking the ebola outbreak in Uganda.

In the year 2010, HealthMap's statistics about Haiti's deadly cholera outbreak provided early information on the trajectory of the disease. "We think there are opportunities to really track emerging infectious diseases with these tools," Brownstein said.