Four Yale affiliates are being treated for mild cases of the flu, and samples have been sent to the Connecticut Department of Public Health to determine whether any of the cases are indeed swine flu, the University announced Thursday.

“These patients all live off campus, and they are only mildly ill and receiving treatment at home,” Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer wrote in an e-mail message to the Yale community this afternoon. “As a precautionary measure, these patients are receiving anti-viral medications.  If it turns out that any members of the Yale community have confirmed cases of swine flu, we will let you know right away.”

In other news, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced that two students at Fairfield University have been identified by state health offiicals as “probable” for swine flu, raising the number of probable cases in Connecticut to five.  Rell added that neither of the students had reported traveling recently.

Samples from the two Fairfield students have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing, the governor said.  In addition, two other suspected cases in East Haddam, Conn., turned out to not be swine flu, she said.