mark zuckerberg, facebook
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during his keynote address at Facebook's f8 developers conference in San Francisco, California April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have donated $25 million for the cause of Ebola. The money has been donated to a non-profit organisation called CDC Foundation which is securing funds to fight against the disease.

According to the Guardian, Zuckerberg, aged 30, posted a message on Facebook which said that Ebola had to be got into control soon so that it does not become a long-term global health crisis like HIV or polio. He also wrote that 8,400 people had been infected by it so far, but it was spreading so quickly that projections showed it could infect about 1 million people over the next few months.

He believed that their donation would empower the CDC as well as the experts to prevent the health crisis to become large scale. He said that the epidemic was at a critical turning point.

Other wealthy individuals who donated to fight the epidemic include Bill and Melinda Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft MSFT's co-founder. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $50 million to the United Nations as well as other international organisation who are involved in helping the Ebola-affected countries, reported Forbes.

Paul Allen donated $20 million in addition to launching a campaign called Tackle Ebola. Allen said that it was the time to respond to the health crisis with speed as well as resources to support those who were working hard to tackle the epidemic.

A spokeswoman for CDC, Claire Greenwell, said that about $40M had been donated for the fight against the epidemic in west Africa. She added that critical resources and services will be provided with the help of the donations that are received by the organisation. It was also said that the donations would be used for buying protective gear for the healthcare workers and launch educational health campaigns in west Africa.

Last October 13, Dr Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organisation said that Ebola was unquestionably the most acute public health emergency in current times. The epidemic has claimed the lives of 4,000 people.