ELLSWORTH — Influenza remains widespread throughout Maine, with “flu–like illness” now accounting for 9 percent of deaths in Maine’s three largest communities.

Those nine deaths attributed to flu and pneumonia were reported in surveillance data collected last week in Portland, Bangor and Lewiston and released Wednesday by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (MCDC).

Reports fielded by MCDC also show flu outbreaks in nursing homes and schools throughout the state, including a school in Machias that was not identified by name.

School absences above 15 percent of the total student headcount are reported to state health officials year-round.

The incidence of flu in Maine was higher last week than reported in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. A total of 33 outbreaks of influenza-like illness have been reported in Maine this season.

Complications of influenza kill about 36,000 people during the annual “flu season” in the United States. Influenza is considered by public health officials to be the leading cause of death from a preventable infectious disease.

The very old and the very young are the most susceptible to influenza. Fatalities in Maine during the current epidemic include the death in late February of a preschooler from Penobscot County.

“It’s hard to say at this point if this is a ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’ flu season, but it’s definitely not ‘mild,’” said MCDC Director Dr. Dora Anne Mills. “And it’s too soon to know if it has peaked. How long the current flu season will last is unpredictable.

“The most predictable thing about flu is its unpredictability. But there’s no question that flu is a big killer.”