The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given £31million to help battle the Ebola epidemic in Africa. The US philanthropic foundation's cash will go to UN agencies and international organisations to boost the emergency response . It is hoped it will also speed up the development of drugs and vaccines, as Ebola has killed more than half its 4,300 victims. The philanthropists said they wanted to identify the "most effective ways to save lives" in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday the Ebola death toll jumped by almost 200 in a single day to at least 2,296 and is already likely to be higher than that.