A fifth pornographic film actor in California has tested HIV-positive, marking the largest HIV outbreak in the adult film industry in six years, according to the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, Reuters reports. The latest case has been linked to three other adult film actors who tested positive last month (Keating, Reuters, 5/5). Adult film actors Darren James, Lara Roxx and Jessica Dee last month tested HIV-positive, and 53 workers who may have had unprotected sex with one of the actors or their sex partners subsequently agreed to a voluntary work quarantine. About 12 companies agreed to a 60-day production moratorium until HIV testing of the actors is completed, according to industry experts. Approximately 1,200 adult film actors undergo monthly testing for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, and many production companies require performers to show their test results before filming (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/5). AIM did not release the name of the most recent actor to test positive, but the trade magazine Adult Video News reported that the actor's manager confirmed her stage name as Miss Arroyo, the AP/Indianapolis Star reports (AP/Indianapolis Star, 5/6). Miss Arroyo worked in a sex scene with James and another man on March 30, three weeks after James returned from filming in Brazil, where he is believed to have contracted HIV, according to the New York Times (Madigan, New York Times, 5/6). Brazil's porn industry -- which is thought to be the world's second-largest after the United States' -- does not require HIV testing, but most production companies honor an unwritten agreement requiring actors to use condoms (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/28).

"Benefit of Containment"
AIM Executive Director Sharon Mitchell said that Miss Arroyo has been "working in the industry for several years," adding, "She has a good head on [her] shoulders and was well prepared for this diagnosis. She did realize that HIV was an occupational hazard" (Reuters, 5/5). Miss Arroyo on Wednesday was referred to a case worker, who will oversee blood tests, nutrition, medications and possible mental health counseling, according to Mitchell (New York Times, 5/6). Mitchell said that Miss Arroyo's other sex partners already have tested HIV-negative once, but they will be monitored for another 30 days, according to Reuters. "This is the benefit of containment," Mitchell said, adding that the actors "haven't been out working. They have been under quarantine" since the first cases were identified (Reuters, 5/5). In an unrelated case, a transsexual actor who goes by the stage name Jennifer on Tuesday also tested HIV-positive. Jennifer last performed a sex scene on Feb. 27 with two male performers who have since tested HIV-negative (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/5).

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