The number of reported U.S. Zika cases continues to increase. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 1,600 cases.  None in the states, so far, are said to be the result of mosquito infection.

With the Rio Olympics just days away, the threat of Zika is still on the minds of people traveling to Brazil and staying home. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health, there’s no need to worry about traveling to Brazil.

“We don’t think that people coming to the Olympics is going to be essentially causing a very significant increase of any threat at all,” Fauci said.

Fauci is working on a Zika vaccine. He says the number of cases in Brazil has dropped off dramatically since January. He said to still use caution when traveling there.

“In the absence of a vaccine the way you put a lid on this is aggressive mosquito control,” he said.

To prevent a widespread outbreak in the U.S, Fauci said:

  • Cover as much exposed skin as possible with clothing, but be comfortable
  • Use insect repellant with DEET
  • Get rid of standing water
  • Stay indoors as much as possible with air conditioning
  • Make sure screens on windows are intact

According to the CDC, two types of mosquitoes carry Zika called the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus. Both are found in Texas.

Fauci said nationally, mosquitoes in the U.S did not bite people who contracted Zika. The cases are travel related.

“If we do good mosquito control measures it is unlikely that we’ll have the disseminated outbreak that they have experienced in Brazil and that they now experiencing in Puerto Rico,” he said.

For anyone planning on traveling to Brazil, Fauci said to wait to become pregnant after the trip.

“If a woman gets infected or suspects that she’s infected if she travels, the safe thing to do is wait eight weeks before you get pregnant,” he said. “The timeframe of a man who’s either definitely or suspected of being infected, you have to practice safe sex for six months.”

Creating the vaccine to fight Zika will take time and money, according to Fauci. Congress did not pass Zika legislation before members left Washington.  Lawmakers are expected to take it up again when they return after Labor Day.