US porn industry halted after actor tests positive for syphilis

The multi-billion dollar US pornography industry is currently debating whether performers should be required by law to wear condoms Photo: GETTY

A moratorium was called for by the Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry trade group.

It called on all performers, more than 1,000 of them, to be tested before resuming work.

The trade group’s medical experts ordered preventative shots of antibiotics. After performers get the shots, they can go back to work within 10 days.

The shutdown followed an announcement on Friday that the Los Angeles County Public Health Department was investigating at least five possible cases of syphilis reported last week.

It was the latest self-imposed moratorium to be applied by the pornorgaphy industry.

In 2010 porn actor Derrick Burts was diagnosed as HIV-positive, and production was briefly halted. In 2004, at least five performers tested positive for HIV, prompting another stop.

The multi-billion dollar US pornography industry, based mostly in Los Angeles, is currently at the centre of a debate over whether performers should be required by law to wear condoms.

When voters in Los Angeles County go to the polls in November they will be asked to decide the matter.

Adult movie producers have threatened to leave the area if the measure is approved.

The Free Speech Coalition is opposing the measure, claiming the industry is capable of policing itself.

Executive director Diane Duke said: “Clearly our industry’s priority is the health and well-being of our performers.”

But Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which backs the mandatory use of condoms, said syphilis had a 90-day incubation period, and the industry had only been testing performers once every six months.