Just ahead of holidays, flu cases are spreading across the United States.

Health officials say the flu is spreading across the nation, with a dozen states now reporting widespread flu cases just ahead of the holiday season.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says Mississippi is among 12 states reporting widespread cases of the flu. The others are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Deep South is among the hardest-hit regions, with Louisiana and Mississippi reporting high levels of flu-like illness.

According to the Mississippi Department of Health, there have been 49 confirmed cases of the flu in the last eight weeks. Two of those cases have been reported in Warren County. The others are Attala (1), Bolivar (2), Covington (5), Forrest (1), Hinds (4), Jasper (2), Jones (5), Kemper (1), Marshall (2), Neshoba (2), Oktibbeha (3), Pike (3), Prentiss (2), Quitman (1), Rankin (3), Tate (2), Wilkinson (1), Winston (3) and Yazoo (1). The counties for two other cases were unknown. Thirty-four of the cases were identified as Influenza A (H1).

Officials say this year’s flu season is likely to be a rough one nationwide.

One reason is that more than 90 percent of the influenza specimens tested nationwide are Influenza A (H3N2), and the rates of hospitalization and deaths are typically higher in seasons when H3N2 is the dominant strain.

Officials are also advising the public that it’s not too late to get a flu shot.