AUGUSTA - Health officials say plentiful rainfall this year could provide more breeding grounds for mosquitos and facilitate the spread of West Nile virus. <br>
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Mosquitoes, which carry and spread West Nile, use pools and puddles of standing water to reproduce. <br>
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State health officials say it is difficult to predict whether this season's virus activity will be greater than last year. In 2002, Georgia had 43 human cases of the virus and seven deaths from it. <br>
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The first bird case of the West Nile virus this year was confirmed last week, months earlier than last year's initial activity.
