It’s early for Arizona’s flu season, but the number of reported cases is already higher than last year at this time. 

Eugene Livar is with the Arizona Department of Health Services. He said at least 30 cases have been reported since the season began in late September.

“It is something that we want to keep an eye on," Livar said. "The only thing we do know about the flu season is that it is unpredictable so we’ll need a couple of weeks of monitoring and surveillance to get an idea of  the direction it’s headed.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently urged people to get their flu shots now. Last year’s flu viruses made a large number of people sick, especially those who were otherwise young and healthy.