| Nineteen
adult movie actors who have tested HIV-negative have been
removed from a voluntary quarantine list and may resume working in the
pornographic film industry, the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation
announced on Tuesday, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports
(AP/Long Island Newsday,
5/12). Five adult film actors in the last month have tested
HIV-positive, and four of the cases have been linked. Following the
detection of the first two cases, 53 workers who may have had
unprotected sex with one of the actors or one of their sex partners
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 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,
5/11). Performers on the quarantine list initially were told they would
have to wait until June to resume work. However, because the 19
performers have waited 30 to 45 days from the date of exposure and have
been tested at least twice -- some as many as five times -- with at
least six different testing methods, health officials are confident
that the 19 performers are not HIV-positive, AIM Executive Director
Sharon Mitchell said, according to the AP/Newsday.
Although it is standard to wait 60 days to confirm HIV status, such a
waiting period is applied only when one testing method is used,
Mitchell said, according to the AP/Newsday. She added,
"It's our reputation on the line. We would not release these people if
we didn't feel it was the safe and cautious thing to do." However,
producer Nicole London of Outback Productions said she and others in
the industry were "surprised and a little skeptical," according to the AP/Newsday.
"I'm not going to resume shooting. We were told 60 days and I'm gonna
stick to that," London said (AP/Long Island Newsday,
5/12). The other performers on the list are being asked to refrain from
working until they are retested, Mitchell said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, industry insiders said that some producers and performers
already had broken the quarantine and resumed filming (Liu, Los
Angeles Times, 5/12).
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