LOS ANGELES — Adult film industry blogger Mike South (www.mikesouth.com) reported over the weekend that a male porn performer tested positive for syphilis and “…there are about fifteen other performers who may have been directly exposed.”

The syphilis case was reported at a time when the porn industry is suing Los Angeles County health officials seeking to block implementation of Measure B, the Los Angeles County Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act, on First Amendment grounds.

As a result of this reported infection, officials from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the primary backers of Measure B, are calling on the County of Los Angeles to fully investigate this case (and the possible outbreak it may generate), noting that the infection and exposure of 15 fellow performers could have been prevented if L.A. County health officials had enforced Measure B.

The law, which requires condom use on all adult film sets in Los Angeles County, passed last November with the support of 57% of County residents.

“We are calling on County health officials to fully investigate this latest syphilis case and possible outbreak in the adult film industry, a situation we believe could have been prevented if County officials had even bothered to enforce Measure B after it was passed by a clear majority of County voters last fall,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation and one of the five citizen proponents of Measure B.

“Information about this current case comes from an extremely reliable industry source. And while we hope this is a limited situation that results in no additional infections, we are also calling on the County to immediately step up and enforce the provisions and requirements of Measure B.”

During the lead-up to the successful election for Measure B last year, several organizations committed to protecting the public health joined the call for mandatory use of condoms in the production of adult films, including the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the California Conference of Local AIDS Directors, the California STD Controllers Association, the National Coalition of STD Directors, the National Association of City and County Health Officials, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the California Medical Association.