The Monroe County Health Department will use a grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis and AIDS United to help fund its syringe exchange program.

Monroe County is the latest in Indiana to have been declared a public health emergency. State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams made the declaration today in response to an outbreak of hepatitis C.

Monroe County Health Department Administrator Penny Caudill says the declaration is the first step to create a needle exchange. The numbers of Hepatitis C cases in the county have increased over 50 percent since 2009.

Cook Pharmica currently employs 575 workers, part of more than 13,000 Cook Group employees worldwide, and has already started hiring new employees.