Russian MP Calls Bird Flu “American Provocation”

A deputy of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic faction of the Russian State Duma, Aleksei Mitrofanov, has said in a parliamentary speech that bird flu was invented by Americans who wanted to dominate the world’s poultry markets.

“There is no such thing as bird flu, just as there is no AIDS, tulip or mad cow disease,” Mitrofanov was quoted as saying by the Rosbalt news agency.

“It is a provocation by Americans. They want to eliminate all chickens in Europe so that we have to import ’Bush’s legs’,” he said. “Bush’s legs” is a Russian saying for deep frozen chicken thighs massively imported from the U.S. under President George Bush Sr.

Mitrofanov suggested that the State Duma invite Agriculture Minister Aleksei Gordeyev to discuss the bird flu problem, but the initiative was not supported by his fellow parliamentarians.