President Obama released a video today urging the people of West Africa to get the facts about Ebola, the virus that has killed more than 1,550 people in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

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The video, posted on the U.S. State Department's YouTube channel, comes at a time when mistrust of African governments is thought to be fueling the worst-ever Ebola outbreak.

"The United States is working with your governments to help stop this disease, and the first step in this fight is knowing the facts," the president said before listing some common misconceptions about the virus.

A spokesman for the State Department told ABC News that the video would be disseminated through American embassies in the region and translated into local languages. "The target audience is West Africans, and we're doing all we can to make sure it reaches the hardest-hit areas," he said.

President Obama addresses the Ebola outbreak in Africa in a US Department of State video message posted on YouTube. (Image credit: US Department of State/YouTube)