Zika virus in Georgia is just a matter of time, Middle Georgia State professor says

Don't panic. But start paying attention.

That's the Zika virus advice for Georgians from Jeff Burne, an entomologist and biology professor at Middle Georgia State University.

Burne said Georgia has the two species of mosquito that carry the disease, which has been associated with birth defects in Brazilian infants. Those insects are Aedes albopictus, known as the Asian tiger mosquito, and Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito.

For now that just means there is a ready host for the virus should it ever get here. Unfortunately, Burne said that's a question of when, not if.

"Absolutely. It's coming," he said. "I don't see any way you're going to be able to stop it. Now how long it takes to work its way into a wide part of the mosquito population? That's tough to call."

Burne said the general warming of the South due to global climate change means the region could sustain the Zika virus and its mosquito hosts as well as more well-known diseases such as dengue fever and yellow fever. First, though, human hosts would have to truck the diseases back to the United States from a country where they are already well-established.

"The first thing that's got to happen is somebody who has the virus has to be bitten by a mosquito here. And then the mosquito would pick it up and then it would potentially spread through the population," Burne said.

Once the diseases are here, they could become more firmly established. Still, how often something such as Zika would make people ill could be in question. Burne said the related West Nile virus has been in Georgia for years but has resulted in only 30 or so infections.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued travel warnings to countries where the virus has already been found. Burne said even given the recent Southern cold snap, mosquito populations here will most likely be healthy come spring.

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Zika virus in Georgia is just a matter of time, Middle Georgia State professor says ."