Exercise Waterhole is a series of workshops and exercises being held in 2023. It will test and evaluate how well-prepared Australia’s animal health laboratory network is to respond to a large-scale emergency animal disease (EAD) outbreak.
The simulated scenario will involve an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) affecting cattle in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland followed by a concurrent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the southern states.
The objectives of the exercise are to:
- practice the application and assess the potential impact of regulations and legislation pertinent to animal health laboratory services in the event of an emergency animal disease incursion across Australia
- confirm that Australia has sufficient laboratory capacity and capability to manage the demands of multiple concurrent and high-impact emergency animal diseases
- assess the effectiveness of communication and information management arrangements within and between Australian animal health laboratories
- identify resource and logistical constraints that may impact on Australia’s animal health laboratories, when responding to multiple concurrent and high-impact emergency animal diseases.
The exercise will include three workshops and conclude with a 3-day functional exercise in early November 2023.
Exercise Waterhole Report
The Final Report on Exercise Waterhole will be made available on this webpage in early 2024.