The 24-year-old performer -- who is known as Derek Chambers in gay films and Cameron Reid in straight films -- has outed himself as the actor who tested positive for the HIV virus in October, causing two of the industry’s biggest production companies, Vivid Pictures and Wicked Entertainment, to shut down for almost a month.
Known only as Patient Zeta at the time, Burts found out on Oct. 8 from a routine check-up at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in Sherman Oaks, Calif., that he had contracted the virus, The Los Angeles Times reported.
After quarantining his co-stars, all of whom tested negative, the clinic reportedly told Burts they had traced the infection to someone he had performed with who was "known positive," but could not reveal his name due to patient confidentiality.
According to the Times, the gay porn industry does not require negative test results before filming.
Burts told the newspaper that he may have contracted the disease during a gay film shoot in Florida, during which time performers used condoms during intercourse but not during oral sex.
"It's very dangerous," he told the Times. "It should be required that you wear a condom on the set."
A month after being diagnosed, the clinic claimed in a statement that Zeta had contracted the HIV virus "through private, personal activity."
Burts told the Times that this was "completely false" as he had only ever slept with his girlfriend in his personal life and that she tested negative for the disease.
He also took issue with the fact that the clinic reportedly did not arrange for follow-up care and told him not to contact the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which he did anyway.
Read More: Derrick Burts, aka Cameron Reid, aka Derek Chambers, reveals he is HIV positive, calls for condoms
