ATLANTA - Two deaths from West Nile virus were reported Thursday in Georgia and federal health officials said the virus will always be worse in the South because warm weather means more mosquitoes. <br>
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If confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the deaths would raise the nationwide toll to at least 15 this year and 33 since the virus was first discovered in the United States in 1999. <br>
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State officials said the victims were a 51-year-old Atlanta man and a 77-year-old man from Columbus, but did not say when they died. <br>
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Officials also reported four other probable cases of West Nile virus: two in Columbus, one in Perry and one in Covington. Although the cases were discovered in only four Georgia counties, officials said West Nile can be found throughout the state. <br>
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The director of the state's Division of Public Health, Doctor Kathleen Toomey, said ``West Nile virus arrived in Georgia last year, and there is currently no way to eradicate it, so we expect it to be with us every summer for the foreseeable future.'' <br>
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The last known human case of West Nile in Georgia was last summer, when an elderly Atlanta woman died of the disease, which can cause fatal brain swelling. <br>
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Doctor Lyle Petersen, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert on the virus, said the CDC has not confirmed any of the Georgia cases as West Nile yet, but is testing several samples. <br>
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The virus causes flu-like symptoms and sometimes swelling of the brain, although most people bitten by an infected bug never get sick. The virus is most dangerous for children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.
