Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is ponying up $25 million to fight Ebola in the countries hardest hit by the deadly virus.
The donation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the latest of a number of high-profile donations that Mr. Zuckerberg, who is worth more than $30 billion, and his wife Priscilla have made in recent years.
“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,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “We believe our grant is the quickest way to empower the CDC and the experts in this field to prevent this outcome.”
So far, the Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Health officials say fighting and containing Ebola in West Africa is the best way to keep the outbreak in check and prevent it from reaching U.S. shores.
Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died in Dallas last week after he became sick and tested positive for Ebola, the first diagnosed case in the United States. Since then, a 26-year-old nurse who treated Duncan has tested positive for the virus, raising fears that the American health system is not prepared to deal with Ebola.
“We are hopeful this will help save lives and get this outbreak under control,” Mr. Zuckerberg said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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