(NEXSTAR) – The 2022 flu season is off to an early and vicious start, especially in the South, according to tracking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

The CDC has seven states, plus Washington, D.C., in the highest category for flu activity, shown in purple on the map below. Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia are all categorized as “very high.”

It’s not much better in Maryland and Texas, both of which are in the second-worst category (brown on the CDC map).

Behind them are five more states in: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and New Mexico.

Hospitalization rates for influenza haven’t been this high this early since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, according to the CDC. So far, there have been an estimated 1,300 flu deaths, including at least three children.

Activity has spiked over the past month. Less than three weeks ago , no states were in the “very high” categories.

All this flu transmission is also happening earlier than usual – the winter flu season usually ramps up in December or January.