Here is the day Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting crowd [VIDEO]

david nganga

December 1, 2017 6:07 PM

The philanthropist has been pushing to reduce malaria deaths through his foundation.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates once released mosquitoes on an unsuspecting audience at a TED conference in 2009.

The incident happened when the billionaire was delivering a presentation about malaria education and eradication.

"There's no reason only poor people should have the experience," he said, before adding that the mosquitoes were not infectious.

Gates was making the compelling point that, even if an issue like malaria doesn't directly affect you, you should still care.

The philanthropist has been pushing to reduce malaria deaths through the nonprofit. In September, Gates announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would provide $168.7 million to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to help develop a vaccine for the deadly disease.

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites in the red blood cells. Each year, 350 million to 500 million are infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than one million cases result in death. Symptoms include high fever, nausea, chills, sweating and weakness.

The disease is still prevalent on continents such as Africa and Asia, which have tropical or subtropical climates. Malaria has been eradicated in most countries with temperate climates. There is currently no effective vaccine against malaria.

Here is the video:

Bill Gates releases mosquitoes on a crowd at TED conference

david nganga