New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS): The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday pledged to commit $50 million to support emergency efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.

The foundation will immediately release flexible funds to UN agencies and international organisations to enable them and national governments to purchase badly-needed supplies and scale up emergency operations in the affected countries, said a release from the foundation.

The foundation will also work with public and private sector partners to accelerate the development of therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics that could be effective in treating patients and preventing further transmission of the disease.

"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," Gates foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann said.

"We also want to accelerate the development of treatments, vaccines and diagnostics that can help end this epidemic and prevent future outbreaks," she added.

Till date, the Gates foundation has committed more than $10 million to fight the Ebola outbreak which has claimed more than 2,000 people in west Africa.