At this year’s TED Conference, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates released a swarm of malaria ridden mosquitoes onto the crowd as he explained, “I brought some mosquitoes – we’ll let them roam around the auditorium. There’s no reason only the poor should experience this…”

Shortly after Gates released the mosquitoes, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation confirmed the incident, also noting that the insects were not carrying malaria.

The TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is an annual technology and influence breeding ground where some of the world’s most influential people give compelling, passion filled speeches to crowds of interested and similarly passionate onlookers. There’s another much discussed questions and answers segment between Bill Gates and TED’s Chris Anderson, which followed Bill Gates speech above. Here’s a link to the video.

Gates has been fighting the front against Malaria deaths through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In September of 2008, the foundation announced that it would provide nearly $170 million to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative. This of course, all with the intentions of finding a cure for the lethal disease.

QUICK NOTE: “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.”