Ebola Virus Outbreak, Symptoms, Facts & Spread in USA: Mark Zuckerberg to Donate $25 Million
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan announced in a Facebook post that they are donating $25 million to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to aid in fighting the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa, Forbes reported.
The United States has led the global response effort to combat Ebola. CDC has mobilized hundreds of staff and experts in response to the virus zones-Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, NBC News stated.
The money donated for the treatment of Ebola, which will go straight to the CDC Foundation, will be used for the equipment, training, transportation, educational health campaigns, and emergency treatment centers in West Africa. The CDC Foundation, established by the Congress, helps raise funds for U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's response to public health threats.
According to the NBC News article, "U.S. health officials have stressed that the most effective way to prevent an Ebola outbreak in the U.S. is to control the virus at its source."
A Liberian citizen who contracted the disease in his home country and died of it in Dallas, Texas is one of the victims of Ebola in the United States. The nurse who cared for him was also infected by the disease.
Forbes added: "Yesterday, Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the CDC, reportedly said that it was not known how the nurse had been infected, only that a 'breach in protocol' for treating a patient happened. He also said that the U.S. needed to rethink how it 'addresses infection control.'"
Zuckerberg stated in the Facebook post that the epidemic is at a critical turning point.
"We need to get Ebola under control in the near term so that it doesn't spread further and become a long term global health crisis that we end up fighting for decades at large scale, like HIV or polio.
"We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome."
"This significant contribution from Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan will help us rapidly advance the fight against Ebola," said Frieden in a statement quoted by Washington Post.
Zuckerberg isn't the only wealthy individual who is aiding the treatment for Ebola. Forbes said that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $50 million last month to the United Nations agencies and international organizations currently involved in putting a stop to the virus.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was also reported to have given $20 million. Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest person, also donated money, as well as other wealthy tycoons in Nigeria, added Forbes.