Porn actor sparks health fears after 'contracting HIV on film set while not wearing a condom'

The actor was found to not have been wearing condoms during filming

Tim Walker
Tuesday 30 December 2014 15:48 GMT
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The porn actor was found to not have been wearing condoms
The porn actor was found to not have been wearing condoms

A US porn actor has tested positive for HIV, which he likely contracted as a result of unprotected sex during a film shoot in Nevada.

On Monday, the Department of Public Health in neighbouring California issued an alert to say there was “very strong evidence” the performer was infected on set.

The actor reportedly tested negative for the virus, which causes AIDS, before taking part in two film shoots that involved unprotected sex with a number of other male performers. “During the second film shoot, he had symptoms of a viral infection,” the alert said. “The actor went to a clinic and had another blood test that showed he had recently become infected with HIV.”

Another actor from the second film shoot has also tested positive for HIV, which health officials said was “probably transmitted” by the first actor. “The actor and production company thought he was HIV-negative during filming,” the alert went on. “Shortly after his negative test, HIV levels in his body rose rapidly to where he could infect other actors through unprotected sex.”

The last recorded incident of a porn performer being infected with HIV on set was in 2004, after which the US adult entertainment industry introduced a regime of monthly STD testing for its actors. In 2012, voters in LA County – the traditional hub of porn production – approved a measure requiring adult performers to wear condoms during shoots.

Reluctant to conform to the new rule, known as “Measure B”, many porn companies moved production elsewhere, notably to nearby Ventura County and Las Vegas. The number of adult filmmakers applying for permits in LA County plummeted from 485 in 2012 to just 40 in 2013.

“The big lie the industry has been saying all these years, [that] there are no on-set transmissions, has been proven to be untrue,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which backed Measure B, told the Associated Press. “It’s happened before, it’s happened now, and it will happen in the future.”

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