Nine confirmed Zika cases in Georgia

Georgia health officials are launching a new campaign to combat the Zika virus that appears to be spreading among travelers with more confirmed cases in March.

Brenda Fitzgerald, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Health, told WTOC Tuesday that there are nine confirmed Zika cases in Georgia, and all confirmed cases are travel-related. None of the cases in Georgia are pregnant women, according to the WTOC report.

Georgia health officials launched the new initiative, called “Tip and Toss,” to encourage Georgians to take action against the mosquito-borne illness that carries high risk of birth defect for pregnant woman with the virus.

The idea of tip and toss is simple: search for all containers holding water in your yard and remove them. If you have containers that can’t be removed, tip and toss out the water at least once a week for every time it rains. This prevents mosquitoes from breeding and laying eggs in your own yard.

Health officials say the southeast region of the United States is more at risk for the Zika virus, because of the warm climate, according to the Washington Post.

"The mosquito that is most responsible for this virus actually lives there along the coast," Fitzgerald told WTOC.

Georgia health officials say there are 273 confirmed Zika cases across the country right now, 19 of whom are pregnant, according to the CDC.

The mosquito kills nearly 750,000 people each year. Malaria is the cause for the majority of these deaths.

The CDC warns pregnant Americans to avoid traveling to 23 countries in South America, the Caribbean, and Polynesia.

As of Friday, there were no confirmed cases of Zika in South Carolina.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 10:15 AM with the headline "Nine confirmed Zika cases in Georgia."