A new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in this week’s issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found a sharp increase in HIV cases among young gay and bi-sexual men.

The report noted that the rise is “especially concerning” for young men aged 13 to 24 who have sex with men, with an annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared with 1.5 percent for men overall. The figures were even more concerning for African-American men who have sex with men, nearly 15 percent, compared to a 9 percent and an 8 percent annual rise among their white and Hispanic peers, respectively.

Phill Wilson, head of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles called the high percentage of the disease an “epidemic out of control. And yet we don’t see a response that recognizes it is an epidemic out of control,” the Washington Post quoted him.

Overall, during 2001-2006, an estimated 214,379 persons were diagnosed with HIV-AIDS in the 33 states studied, the CDC found. Almost half of these cases were diagnosed among men having sex with other men. New York, Florida, New Jersey and Texas have large numbers of HIV-infected people.

The figures are not surprising if considering the huge number of people who continue to practice unsafe sex. According to the results of a survey released this week by the New York City Health Department’s Bureau of Epidemiology Services, nearly 40 percent of New Yorkers with multiple sex partners did not use condoms the last time they had sex. Having multiple sex partners increases a person’s risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections.

The results of the CDC report come on the eve of National HIV Testing Day across the U.S., a day in which people are urged to get tested for HIV. The CDC has increased the number of testing sites in 23 geographic areas with the largest number of HIV cases. A list of testing sites is available at www.hivtest.org.