Health care workers are working to stop an HIV outbreak in southeastern Indiana.

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Fifty-five HIV cases have been confirmed in the area since December and there are 13 more preliminary positive tests reported.

Officials are expanding efforts to slow down the spread and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been called out to help.

"This is a public health nurse's worst nightmare because it's an outbreak that I can't really stop. There's no vaccine for it, so I can't protect people and the mode of transportation is IV drug abuse. So stopping that is what's difficult," said Scott County nurse Brittany Combs.

Combs said a majority of HIV positive patients admitted to sharing needles during drug use.

Only a few cases are attributed to unprotected sex.

"As long as I've been here, six years, we've always had less than five reported every year," Combs said. "So 55 is a huge number."

Prior to the outbreak, southeastern Indiana residents wanting to be tested had to go to Clark County.

Now, free HIV testing is being performed at additional health departments, including the Scott County Health Department Office on North Gardner Street. The tests will be given on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It takes 30 minutes and the results are confidential.

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Southeastern Ind. health care workers dealing with HIV outbreak