Boston health officials are ramping up a campaign that highlights precautions residents need to take if they are planning a trip this summer to countries where outbreaks of the Zika virus have been reported.

Pregnant women are a primary target of the initiative by the Boston Public Health Commission, because the mosquito-borne virus is linked to birth defects and temporary paralysis in the Caribbean and much of Latin America.

The commission’s campaign is focusing on neighborhoods with high concentrations of residents from Central and South America and will offer free “Zika kits’’ for pregnant women that will include insect repellent, bed netting to keep mosquitoes out, information sheets, and condoms, said Leslie Karnes, a project manager in the health agency’s infectious disease bureau.

The condoms are included because Zika can be spread through sexual contact, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The message we are trying to tell women is that maybe you are not going to travel, but maybe your male partner may travel, and that may pose a risk to you and your unborn child,’’ Karnes said.

“We’re asking them to not have sex, or to use condoms for the remainder of the pregnancy,’’ Karnes said. “And that has been a lot harder to sell to people.’’

Karnes said the commission is speaking with members of the clergy in hopes they will help spread the word about Zika precautions for those traveling this summer.

At least 234 pregnant women in the United States have been infected with the virus, according to the CDC’s latest count. Those people were infected while traveling overseas or through sexual contact. There have been no reported cases of Zika infection acquired in this country through the bite of an infected mosquito, and the risk of infected mosquitoes showing up in Massachusetts is low, Karnes said.

The type of mosquito, Aedes aegypti, most likely to spread the virus has not been detected in Massachusetts, Karnes said.

Still, the commission will be reminding all residents to take precautions against mosquitoes common to New England because West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis, two other diseases transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, can have serious health consequences.

Precautions include using insect repellant, covering up, and avoiding outdoor activities at dusk and after nightfall, when mosquitoes are most active.

Kay Lazar can be reached at kay.lazar@globe.com.