As cases of bird flu continue to surge across the U.S., Americans are largely feeling the symptoms in their pocketbooks rather than their bodies. Chickens, cattle and pricetags are the bird flu's primary victims -- and a new mutation of the virus is now circulating.

Federal health officials have been instructed to temporarily stop any “external communications” to the public, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation.

The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States.