It appears that a mobile phone app is one of the key weapons against the most deadly virus humanity has seen since the Black Death.

Official’s fighting Ebola at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are turning to the latest tools and technology are using a Microsoft mobile app to speed contact tracing everyone exposed to a person with a contagious disease and help with the collection and management of data on every case.

The VHF application enables users to set up databases of patient information, including names, gender, ages, locations, status and Epi Case Classification, for suspected case, confirmed case or not a case.

Marking people as “sick and isolated” automatically converts them into cases, according to CodePlex, a project for hosting open-source software, and that reduces data entry errors and lessens data management for public health responders.

Through the app, users can quickly see virus transmission diagrams that help field workers visualize an outbreak’s reach, according to a CDC statement. What’s more, it works in places with limited connectivity and information technology support, because once it’s downloaded and installed, it requires no Internet connection.

Epi Info works only with Microsoft Windows operating systems and uses Microsoft Access to store questionnaires and data.