With the World Health Organization (WHO) predicting an “exponential increase” in infections across West Africa and warning that Liberia alone will face thousands of new cases in the coming weeks, the $50 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation could not have come at a better time.

Announcing the donation on Wednesday, the Gates foundation said in a statement it would immediately release funds to UN agencies and international organizations involved in the outbreak in order to “scale up” emergency efforts in affected countries. The foundation also vowed to work with the public and private sector to help speed up the development of therapies and vaccines to tackle the deadly virus.

The fight against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has suffered several setbacks with the WHO stating that the magnitude of the outbreak had been under-estimated. More than 2,200 people have died in the outbreak from more than 4,200 infections in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

The spiralling epidemic has led to the taking of drastic measures by the governments of affected countries which include the States of Emergencies and Curfews. While neighbouring countries have closed border crossings, other countries have resorted to the suspension of flights to and from the affected countries with fears rife of  further spread.

In August the WHO warned that the virus could spread to 10 more African countries, a declaration that heightened fears in the 1.1 billion populated continent and led to an AU summit dedicated to combating the deadly disease.

The continent’s prominent businessmen have also joined the fight with financial donations. While Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote supported the campaign against the virus with$924,000, Billionaire investor and popular philanthropist Tony Elumelu gave $617,000 to the cause.

However, the donation of the foundation of one-time world richest man Bill Gates is the highest donation so far by any foundation or individual. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation well known for running or supported several charities, have with their donation of $50 million displayed the philanthropy that the Gates family has come to be known for.

“We are working urgently with our partners to identify the most effective ways to help them save lives now and stop transmission of this deadly disease,” said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chief executive of the Gates Foundation. “We also want to accelerate the development of treatments, vaccines and diagnostics that can help end this epidemic and prevent future outbreaks.”