By RICK CALLAHAN

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Indiana’s health commissioner says a community outreach center that opened this spring in a rural county facing the largest HIV outbreak in state history will close next week and reopen at another location.

State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams said Wednesday the response center in the Scott County city of Austin will close next Thursday.

He says state and local officials are close to securing a new location for the center, which will remain open for at least one year.

The HIV outbreak tied to needle-sharing among intravenous drug users is largely confined to the southeastern Indiana county.

Indiana’s outbreak has 169 confirmed HIV cases and one preliminary positive case. But deputy state health Commissioner Jennifer Walthall says it appears to have plateaued, with few new cases in recent weeks.