North Queensland MPs are seeking assurances that all steps are being taken to deal with any potential outbreak of the Zika virus.
Australia's tropical north is prone to mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, and the region is home to the yellow fever mosquito which spreads Zika.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan has raised the issue with government ministers and been assured appropriate measures are in place.
"Obviously it is a mosquito-borne virus so those areas of the country where mosquitoes are more prevalent do have higher risk," he said in Canberra on Wednesday.
"If we are not vigilant and mitigate the risk up front we could have an issue on our hands before we know about it."
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Another north Queensland MP Ewen Jones said he had full confidence in health authorities.
"Our hospitals are awake to these things," he said.
But more resources were needed for research located in tropical zones and international airports in Cairns and Townsville must be alert.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Australians should be realistic about the Zika virus.
"Australians travel in huge numbers each year. We welcome tourists in massive numbers, particularly from Southeast Asia," he told the Nine Network.
The Zika virus, which was first isolated in the 1940s, has been linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil.
Authorities say the risk of an outbreak in Australia is low.
But the feared scenario is an airline passenger infected with the virus stepping off a plane, getting bitten by a yellow fever mosquito and that infected mosquito passing on the virus.
More than 20 cases have been reported in Australia, with all affected people infected overseas.
