Adult film industry shut down after five porn stars test positive for syphilis



Infected: Porn star Aletta Ocean says she caught the disease in Hungary

The adult film industry has been shut down after five porn stars were revealed to have syphilis.

Now, more than 1,000 Los Angeles-area performers are being tested and administered preventative antibiotics.

The widespread action is a result of rumors that a 'major male porn star' -- who could have potentially had unprotected sex with hundreds of women on camera -- had the infection but continued to film scenes, according to numerous XXX industry blogs.



The outbreak is likely to bolster a ballot issue in November that aims to force all porn performers to wear condoms during pornography shoots. Condom use has become of political issue in Los Angeles since a 2010 AIDs outbreak, which infected one performer.



Syphilis is a treatable bacterial infection that can be spread by both bodily fluids and contact with infected skin.



Its causes skin lesions and rashes. If left untreated, it can permanently alter and damage internal organs and brain function.

At least one porn star has come forward and said she contracted syphilis while shooting movies in Budapest, Hungary.



That revelation has led to speculation that the outbreak of the disease came from Hungary.



'F****** siphilis problem… In Budapest many people got it..Me too…' performer Aletta Ocean, 24, tweeted, according to porn industry insider blog LukeIsBack.com.

Tested: More than 1,000 performers must have blood drawn and receive an antibiotic shot

Sex workers are supposed to undergo regular blood tests to ensure they are free of sexually transmitted disease.



However, it was reported that one of the labs frequented by porn stars does not test for syphilis.

Furthermore, the bacterial infection has a 90-day incubation period -- meaning a porn actor could be carrying the disease, but it wouldn't show up on tests.



Opponents of the porn industry have seized on the outbreak as a reason for voters in Los Angeles to approve a ballot initiative that would require a government-regulated testing scheme and condom use among porn performers.



'We do not feel that California should allow corporations to act in such an irresponsible manner. This is about corporate citizenship; (the porn companies) have been poor corporate citizens,' Mark Roy McGrath, with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a press conference.

