A virologist's labelled Otago University's influenza outbreak as 'remarkable and strange'

In the week ending May 8, there were 50 new cases recorded - the average number in the same week for the five years prior to the pandemic was 16.

Forty four of those cases were in Dunedin.

Sue Huang says due to the poorer living conditions of uni students, and them being more active than the general public - viruses are floating around a lot in the area.

She warns despite the cluster - we're still months away from seeing a proper spike in flu-like illnesses.

Huang says overall rates of flu-like illnesses are still lower than pre-pandemic... and flu season usually hits its peak around the end of July.