Gates Foundation pledges $50 million to fight Ebola epidemic

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Gates Foundation pledges $50 million to fight Ebola epidemic

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $50 million on Wednesday to support emergency efforts to contain West Africa's Ebola epidemic, which has already killed almost 2,300 people in the worst outbreak of the virus in history. It will also work with public and private sector partners to speed up to development of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics that could be effective in treating Ebola patients and preventing further spread of the hemorrhagic fever-causing virus. "We are working urgently with our partners to identify the most effective ways to help them save lives now and stop transmission of this deadly disease," Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the Foundation's chief executive officer, said in a statement. Latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show the Ebola outbreak, which began in March, has infected almost 4,300 people so far, killing more than half of them.

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