The New World screwworm is closing in on Kerr County from nearly every direction.

The Texas Animal Health Commission on Wednesday designated parts of Bandera, Medina and Uvalde counties - the band of Hill Country directly south of Kerr - as Infested Zone 09, imposing an immediate quarantine on the movement of warm-blooded animals out of the area.

"Bud" Dinges, D.V.M., signed the order June 24, a day after the parasite was confirmed in a cow in Medina County.