Chris Brown has been ridiculed for a bizarre outburst on Twitter about the Ebola epidemic

R&B singer Chris Brown has been ridiculed for a bizarre outburst on Twitter in which he claimed the killer Ebola virus is a 'form of population control'.

The outspoken artist tweeted his thoughts on the epidemic, which has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa as well as one person in the U.S.

Brown wrote: 'I don't know ... But I think this Ebola epidemic is a form of population control. S*** is getting crazy bruh.' 

R&B singer Chris Brown has been ridiculed for a bizarre outburst on Twitter about the Ebola epidemic

Three minutes after the tweet, following criticism from some of his 13.6 million followers, he backtracked

Three minutes after the tweet, following ridicule from some of his 13.6 million followers, he backtracked and said: 'Let me shut my black a** up!'

His first post received nearly 9,500 retweets and has not been deleted by the singer.

It did not take long for people to latch on to Brown's tweet, with dozens of people criticising his odd conspiracy theory. 

Comedian Warren Holstein tweeted: 'Chris Brown tweeted that Ebola is "a form of population control." He should try it.'

Kevin Hildebrand said: 'Let's keep in mind that Chris Brown is a complete idiot, so his theory of Ebola is equal to a rant from a village idiot.'

Wayne Durham tweeted: 'The stupid gene is strong in Chris Brown.'

It did not take long for people to notice Brown's tweet, with many criticising his odd conspiracy theory

The U.S. began screening people travelling from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the worst-hit nations - for Ebola at numerous airports on Saturday.

Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, was the first person to die of Ebola on U.S. soil on Wednesday, after travelling to America from Liberia in September. 

The UK is also conducting medical checks on people entering the country, and held a major exercise last week to ensure the emergency services were prepared for a first Ebola case.

The World Health Organization has called the Ebola outbreak 'the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times'. 

There is no vaccine for the virus, with the UN expecting the outbreak to continue for at least three months.