Gates Foundation Pledges $50 Million To Fight Ebola

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is stepping up the fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Today the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced it was pledging $50-million to help with emergency efforts in containing the deadly virus.

The foundation says it's immediately releasing funds to UN agencies and international groups to help them buy badly needed supplies and to scale up emergency operations in the affected countries.

The money will also be used to speed up development of drugs and vaccines that could help prevent further spread of the virus.

Over 43-hundred people have been infected during the outbreak and more than half of them have died. (Metro Networks Inc.)