AUGUSTA (AP) – The flu season is losing steam in Maine, following a trend elsewhere across the country.

Influenza now accounts for about 5 percent of patient visits to health care providers, or half what it was two weeks ago, Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health, said Wednesday.

The figure is still double the average of 2.5 percent of patient visits, but it’s good news nonetheless, Mills said.

However, she warned that the state may not be out of the woods and that there could be another peak late in the winter.

So far, at least 10 deaths are being investigated as possibly being flu-related in Maine, Mills said. About two-dozen Mainers die from the flu or flu-related complications in a typical year, she said.

Maine was about a month behind western states in which the flu season got off to an early start. Health officials were particularly troubled by the deaths of children, but none have been reported in Maine, Mills said.

Maine man among finalists

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The president of the University of Maine at Augusta is among the six finalists to become the next chancellor of the North Dakota university system.

The state Board of Higher Education’s chancellor search committee went through 14 applications Tuesday in a meeting at Bismarck State College. It plans to interview the finalists between Feb. 21 and March 10.

The board hopes to have a new chancellor by June 1 to replace Larry Isaak, who resigned last fall.

Charles Lyons, 59, president of the University of Maine at Augusta and vice chancellor of the Maine university system, is among those being considered.

Other finalists are from Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho and Alabama.