New Delhi, Jan 31 : Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates contracted sexually transmitted disease (STD) after alleged sexual encounters with "Russian girlsâ??, and asked for antibiotics for his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, according to the latest claim in the Epstein files.

The fresh allegations come as the US Justice Department released a large batch of files -- encompassing over three million pages of records, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images -- related to its investigation into financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein likely made the claims in draft emails dated July 18, 2013, on behalf of Gates' longtime science adviser, Boris Nikolic.

It claimed involvement in activities ranging from allegedly helping Gates obtain drugs "to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls."

The draft also describes Gates asking Epstein to delete correspondence related to the alleged incident and provide antibiotics for Melinda Gates secretly.

In a separate draft email addressed to Gates, Epstein, again writing as Nikolic, accused the billionaire of attempting to stage a "cover-up" to protect his public image.

The draft alleges Gates asked for antibiotics so they could be given to Melinda without her knowledge, and urged the deletion of emails referring to an alleged STD.

The draft stated, " implore me to please delete the emails regarding your STD [sic], your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda..."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Gates strongly rejected the claims contained in the documents, calling them "absolutely absurd and completely false."

"The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein's frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame," the spokesperson said.

The latest document release also unveiled a list of high-profile individuals, including US President Donald Trump, Tesla chief Elon Musk, former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and acclaimed Indian American filmmaker Mira Nair.

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy US financier, died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. His death was officially ruled a suicide.

/IANS