”The only way to avoid it is to not travel at all, but ultimately the risk will not be zero,” Dr. Lackritz said. “People have to make their personal choices accordingly, but we have a number of messages for how they can protect themselves.”

Here, answers to questions about Zika and travel.

Is travel to a country with Zika safe?

For most people, yes. Zika symptoms are relatively mild and only last a few days, but issues arise for women who are pregnant or couples thinking about getting pregnant. Zika is mostly spread through the bite of Aedes mosquitoes, but it can also spread through sex with an infected person, so couples should talk to their doctors about risks before traveling.

“If there’s a place that someone has to travel while pregnant then all the strategies for prevention are paramount after you’ve had a conversation about whether you absolutely must go,” said Dr. Emily Adhikari, assistant professor of maternal fetal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the medical director of the obstetric infectious disease clinic at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Is there a better time to go?

The virus is still circulating in Brazil and other countries that were at the center of the epidemic, but it is less prevalent in colder months than in the summer. Travelers can take that into account when planning a trip.

“Summer in the north is winter in the south and vice versa so you have to consider that,” said Dr. Ernesto T.A. Marques Jr., associate professor at the Infectious Diseases Department at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. “The mosquito season is usually the summer in the southern hemisphere. In the winter the population of mosquitoes is much lower, so try to plan, if possible, to go in winter and stay in cities.”