Kerr County judge signs Disaster Declaration

In the face of an ongoing and significant threat of the New World screwworm (NWS) identified in neighboring Gillespie County, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly on Monday signed a Kerr County Local State of Disaster Declaration, which went into effect immediately.  The declaration will continue for a period of 7 days, after which it will appear before the Kerr County Commissioners’ Court in its regular, open session planned Monday, June 22, for consideration of an extension.

By signing the disaster declaration, Kelly has activated the county’s Emergency Management Coordinator and all other county officials and personnel to coordinate with all the appropriate local, state and federal agencies and stakeholders when it comes to surveillance, reporting, public information, preparedness and response operations related to the screwworm threat in the county.

Additionally, the county judge signed a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott stating that he recognizes that the presence of the screwworm in the area poses an imminent threat of widespread and severe damage, injury or loss of life or property, specifically threatening Kerr County’s wildlife and livestock industry and economy.

On Jan. 29, Abbott issued a state of disaster for all Texas counties proclaiming that the northward spread of the New World screwworm from Central and South America toward the U.S. southern border threatens the state’s livestock industry and economy and posed an imminent threat of widespread and severe property damage.

On June 9, the Texas Animal Health Commission issued an executive director order restricting animal movements in part of Kerr County due to a case of screwworm confirmed in adjacent Gillespie County.  As of Monday, there were 6 infested zones, which can be viewed on the TAHC website: https://www.tahc.texas.gov/emergency/NWS.html.

For more information about NWS, visit www.screwworm.org.

To report a case of maggots witnessed in an open wounds on a living, warm-blooded animals, call:

~Livestock – TAHC (Texas Animal Health Commission) – 800-550-8242.

~Native Wildlife – TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) – 512-389-4505.