Fayette man dies with reported West Nile, fourth victim this year

ATLANTA - State health officials said Tuesday that an elderly Fayette County man has died with suspected West Nile virus, the fourth fatality in Georgia this year. <br> <br> The 77-year-old man died earlier this week and tested positive for the virus. An autopsy will be performed for further testing. <br> <br> The death brings the West Nile toll in Georgia to four this year. Earlier, victims tested positive for the disease in Muscogee and Fulton counties. Also, a Georgia patient who received an infected organ through a transplant died earlier this summer. <br> <br> Last year, only one person in Georgia died of West Nile, an elderly Atlanta woman. <br> <br> The virus, usually found in birds but transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, is rarely fatal but can cause deadly brain swelling in some patients, usually the weak or elderly. <br> <br> So far this year, federal health officials have reported 1,540 cases of West Nile with 71 deaths nationwide.