Mark Zuckerberg joins the fight against Ebola with $25 million donation

The international effort to contain the spread of the lethal Ebola virus has gone quite poorly so far, with over 4,000 deaths attributed to the disease so far and new transmissions reported in recent days in the US and Europe. As health care workers battle the outbreak on the front lines in various countries, a public outcry has sprung up surrounding the lack of funding available for research and treatment. But more money for the Ebola fight has just been contributed by a surprising source: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday that he and his wife are donating $25 million to help fight the Ebola epidemic. On his Facebook page, Zuckerberg wrote that he and wife Priscilla Chan are donating the money to the Centers for Disease Control Foundation. “The Ebola epidemic is at a critical turning point,” he wrote. “It has infected 8,400 people so far, but it is spreading very quickly and projections suggest it could infect 1 million people or more over the next several months if not addressed. 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.” He went on to explain the reasoning behind his donation.