August 20, 2012 | The Biz

Syphilis scare hits porn studios

A positive syphilis test in LA County has put the porn industry on notice.

Major porn producer Manwin, which operated Men.com,  suspended production on Thursday after learning that an unnamed male performer tested positive for the disease. The company is now asking all performers to get retested, and will only work with anyone who has clean STI tests dated Aug. 17 or later.

"Manwin has stopped production as of late August 16, 2012," company spokesperson Kate Miller revealed. "We are asking talent to retest as of August 17, 2012 under one of the Adult Production Health and Safety Services (APHSS) clinics which now includes syphilis test standard.

Kink.com, which produces gay sites BoundGods.com and BoundInPublic.com, has also suspended productions. The company said it was now evaluating current testing protocol, but will require all Kink models to provide a recent test.

Kink apologized for last-minute shoot cancellations and offered testing information to all performers who had shoots planned this week. It hopes to be able to resume work by the middle of the week.

However, reports of a single case seem to be misleading. The Los Angeles County Public Health Department said it was actually investigating a possible cluster of syphilis cases among adult film industry performers, after receiving reports on five possible cases.

“Whenever there is a cluster like that it may be the tip of the iceberg,” Peter Kerndt, director of the county’s Sexually Transmitted Disease programs, said. “It is a concern. It is a serious health risk to workers in this industry.”

Manwin Temporarily Halts Production; Asks Talent to Retest [AVN]

Kink.com Places Production on Hold [XBiz]

Porn industry syphilis cases in L.A. County under investigation [LA Times]