A male porn star has come out and identified himself as the performer responsible for the current syphilis outbreak that has temporarily shut down the adult film industry in Los Angeles.

The porn actor who used the name Mr. Marcus said that after he contracted the sexually transmitted disease on set, he altered his syphilis-positive test so that he could continue performing.

The 18-year veteran actor's confession came after the industry announced a self-imposed 10-day moratorium while more than 1,000 performers in the Los Angeles area are tested and given preventative antibiotics.

So far, at least nine porn stars have revealed that they have been infected with syphilis.

"I tried to cover it up... Because I said it was like the scarlet letter. It's the word. Syphilis, whoa," Marcus said to XBiz in an emotional interview that brought the actor to tears. "Mr. Marcus, syphilis? Mr. Marcus, the one I worked with? The one that everybody works with? The one that's been in this industry forever?"

Mr. Marcus said that he only altered the test because his doctor had told him that he would not be contagious 10 days after taking a shot of penicillin on July 13.

He was diagnosed with syphilis on July 12, received a penicillin shot on July 13 and performed in a sex scene 11 days later, on July 24, according to reports from trade journal Adult Video News (AVN).

"My personal doctor doesn't know what I do for a living," Mr. Marcus told AVN. "So his thing was just don't have any sex for 7-10 days. Once I did that shot I felt pretty confident. Every doctor I talked to up to that point said, 'You get the shot. That's it.'"

He said that instead of presenting a paper or digital copy of the test results, he showed the producer a copy on his cell phone, but admits that he covered the part that showed he had tested positive for syphilis.

He said that while filming another porn film he had folded the test to hide the syphilis diagnosis and photocopied it but a producer had noticed that the results were missing and asked him about it.

"I showed that my HIV was clear, my gonorrhea and chlamydia were fine," he told AVN. "You didn't see the syphilis part of the test because of the way I showed it."

Mr. Marcus said that he doesn't believe he did anything wrong, even though he admitted to having sex with other performers when he had a STD and to giving his "Blazing Bucks" director altered tests.

"I don't feel that was a mistake," he said. "I was treated. I allowed the medicine to take effect, and I wanted to proceed as normal. I wanted to go back to work as usual."

The "Blazing Bucks" director had thought that the tests looked suspicious prompting an investigation into Mr. Marcus' health.

While all of Mr. Marcus' partners have tested negative for syphilis, AP reported that there are at least nine other cases of the STD.

Syphilis is passed on from person to person through direct contact with syphilis sores, which mainly occur on the external genitals, vagina, anus or inside the rectum. Sores can also occur on the lips and mouth and the disease can be transmitted through a variety of sex acts, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Syphilis is easy to cure in its early stages and a single shot of penicillin can cure a person who has had syphilis for less than a year. People who have had the STD for a longer period will need additional doses.

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