Authorities fear more undetected Cairns HIV

Queensland medical authorities are concerned there may be more undetected cases of men in Cairns who have contracted HIV after travelling to Papua New Guinea.

The Cairns Sexual Health Service in far north Queensland says six men tested positive to HIV after having unprotected sex with women in PNG in the past 10 months.

Dr Darren Russell say the men are between 47- and 66-years-old and had all gone to PNG on business trips.

He says it is a worrying new trend.

"The other concern of course is our border region in the Torres Strait, which is very close to Papua New Guinea and so far there don't seem to be any transmissions across that border, but we're concerned that it's only a matter of time," he said.

The Australia Research Centre in Sex Health and Society at Latrobe University says the Cairns case is a wake-up call.

Deputy director Gary Dowsett says people need to think about their behaviour when they are travelling overseas because HIV is an epidemic.

"It's a message that we need to continue to reinforce that when people are travelling and if they are sexually active when they are travelling overseas they need to be careful and safe in their sexual practices. This is not a new phenomenon," he said.