California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency over the  ongoing hepatitis A virus outbreak, which has spread through homeless communities in several cities across the region, ABC’s KGTV reports.

The official declaration aims to help control the outbreak and allow local health departments to increase their hepatitis A vaccine supplies. Under the emergency proclamation, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will be able to immediately purchase more protective shots from pharmaceutical companies and begin coordinating distribution across the state. 

The CDPH says it has already distributed nearly 80,000 doses of the hepatitis A vaccine through a federal program, but state health officials say the supplies have not been enough to control the crisis. As part of the declaration, the state has asked for increased federal aid and expertise to control the outbreak, as well as the advice of pathologists, epidemiologists and physicians across the country.

A recent letter by U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R–Calif.) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warns that the entire state of California is currently at risk, and that a number of counties outside the virus’ epicenters in San Diego, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles are already seeing signs of the disease spreading in their communities.