Experts warn the Trump administration is losing its grip on bird flu as infection rates soar across the US

Infection rates are climbing sharply across the United States, with experts warning the outbreak has reached mink farms — a development that raises the risk of the virus mutating into a form more dangerous to humans. Public health specialists say the administration has failed to implement the testing and containment measures needed to track the spread. The concern is that mink, like pigs, can act as mixing vessels where strains recombine in unpredictable ways.

Mink farms are particularly alarming to virologists because the animals can harbour and amplify new variants.

Experts warn that without a coordinated federal response, the window to contain the outbreak before a more transmissible strain emerges is narrowing fast.