SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (AP) – Gov. Mike Pence is to visit a southern Indiana county and meet with local officials about an HIV outbreak that Pence's office says “has reached epidemic proportions.''

Pence is scheduled to travel with state health commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams and state epidemiologist Pam Pontones to Scottsburg for Wednesday afternoon's meeting.

The governor will issue a public health disaster emergency Thursday for Scott County, but the scope of that order will be determined by what he hears from local officials.

State health officials said Friday that 55 HIV cases have been confirmed in southern Indiana. Scott County is the epicenter of that epidemic.

Most of those infected shared needles while injecting a powerful prescription painkiller, but some of the HIV cases have been linked to unprotected sex.