SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO): Governor Mike Pence will declare a Public Health Emergency for Scott County within the next 24 hours, in the midst of an HIV outbreak.

Pence met with local officials in the southern Indiana county to talk about the recent the outbreak that Pence's office says “has reached epidemic proportions.''

55 HIV cases have been confirmed in southern Indiana, according to State Health officials and 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.