ATLANTA — Health officials are confirming another state now has a patient with a virus that causes serious birth defects.
Since last May, the Zika virus spread from Brazil through South and Central America and is now impacting American travelers, including a new case reported overnight in Massachusetts.
In Georgia, phone calls have been pouring in to the Piedmont Infectious Disease office.
Infectious disease physician Dr. Christine Zurawski says when pregnant women are infected, the Zika virus can cause serious brain defects in their children. For 4 out of 5 people, the mosquito-borne virus won't cause any symptoms.
The CDC and Zurawski, who is affiliated with Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, believe the virus will likely spread throughout the U.S soon. There have been no confirmed cases in Georgia yet.
"Sooner or later we will have a case here," Zurawski said.
ABC News's Dr. Richard Besser traveled to Brazil where there are an estimated 1.5 million cases of Zika.
The Brazilian government is spraying for mosquitos, but the only action Besser says people can take is to avoid getting bitten.
In the U.S., there are at least 31 cases in 11 states and the District of Columbia of people who traveled to affected areas and returned.
Zurawski says most people who get infected will be OK, and the illness will go away on its own after a few days.
But she is offering some advice.
"The best advice be careful use repellant at all times," Zurawski said.
The illness, which is transmitted to people through mosquito bites, has recently been linked to a congenital condition that causes newborns to have unusually small heads. Microcephaly, the name of the defect, causes smaller than normal cerebrums in babies and improperly developed brains.