The flu is hitting the U.S. earlier than usual this year.

In Missouri, there have already been more than 9,800 cases of the flu this year, more than 16 times the average of the past five flu seasons at this point.

Most of the flu that’s been reported so far in Missouri is type B, but type A flu is also being reported as well.

 

The flu season has hit Kansas hard this year as well. Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Robert Moser says his agency uses several methods to track the illness, including monitoring the percentage of patients seeking health care who exhibit influenza-like illness.

KDHE spokeswoman Barbara Hersh says more than 460 influenza and pneumonia deaths have been reported in Kansas this flu season. During the 2011-2012 influenza season flu and pneumonia contributed to or directly caused more than 1,300 deaths in Kansas.

Officials say the flu season usually doesn’t kick in until late January or early February. More than 40 states report widespread flu activity, even as a handful of states in the south and southeastern US are seeing the cases taper off.