AUGUSTA – Maine’s first three cases of the new swine flu were confirmed Wednesday, according to state health officials, and Gov. John Baldacci said more cases are probable.

Baldacci and Dr. Dora Anne Mills of the Maine Center for Disease Control said all three victims are adults who are recovering at home, two from Kennebec County in central Maine and one from York County in the southernmost part of the state.

Details were limited. One of those stricken had a “travel history,” Mills said.

“It’s still early in the process in terms of getting information,” Baldacci said.

On Wednesday evening, Baldacci, Mills and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron announced the closure of Kennebunk Elementary School and the Crayon Academy day care center in Arundel due to two children suspected of having swine flu. Both schools are in York County and are expected to be closed for seven days.

“The two children have symptoms consistent” with swine flu, the governor’s statement said, “and are a household contact with a person identified with” having it.

Parents of other students in the two schools were advised to keep their children home and monitor them for signs of the virus.

Also Wednesday, Baldacci signed an executive order declaring a Civil Emergency that will allow the state to better respond to the emerging threat posed by the swine flu virus.

“This is a serious situation,” the governor said in a statement Wednesday night. We are taking these precautions to slow the spread of the flu and to make sure Maine can respond quickly and efficiently.”

Mills said the state estimated it could get 30,000 antiviral medication doses from the federal government and another 500,000 doses to stockpile.

Maine’s senior U.S. senator, Olympia Snowe, pledged support for federal efforts to aid the states.

“The federal government, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has expedited the shipment of antiviral medications from its stockpiles which can combat this influenza,” Snowe said in a statement. “I am pleased that President Obama has announced his intention to seek an additional $1.5 billion to fund antivirus research and development and boost stockpiles, and Congress must immediately approve this request.”

In January, months before the swine flu outbreak, Baldacci had proposed $2.2 million in a two-year budget package for funding a federally subsidized purchase of such medication. The governor’s budget package is under legislative review and the Appropriations Committee already has tentatively voted to reduce the medication funding proposal by more than half.

Now, with flu fears on the rise, the committee has resumed discussion of the proposal. Baldacci, meanwhile, was said Wednesday to be planning to use $2.2 million in uncommitted funds to guarantee that Maine has maximum coverage if the swine flu spreads.

Likening the situation in Maine to “a blizzard in the forecast,” Mills said three keys for the public are “respiratory hygiene, stay informed, get prepared.”

Information is available to the public by calling the Maine CDC toll-free flu hot line 1-888-257-0990.

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