Tranquil Exercise Series Background

In 2015, ASPR established several programs to respond to Ebola and other high-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs). Today, these programs include the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, the National Special Pathogen System (NSPS), and the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs).

ASPR also began working with the U.S. Department of State (DoS) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to develop specialized containment equipment to safely transport HCID patients via ground and air.

The federal response community recognized the need to test biocontainment equipment developed by ASPR and DoS and to validate the nation's ability to move HCID patients safely from international and domestic locations to RESPTCs in the United States. This led to the development of a full-scale exercise (FSE) series, with exercises held in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

This June, ASPR will conduct the Tranquil Passport FSE to build upon lessons learned from previous HCID patient movement exercises and field test ASPR's new, first-of-its-kind Portable Biocontainment Unit.

2025 Tranquil Passport Full-Scale Exercise

During the Tranquil Passport Exercise, we will execute existing plans, processes, procedures, authorities, and capabilities of HHS and other local, state, federal, international, and nongovernmental partners to coordinate the movement of a HCID patient cluster from Canada to the United States. 
 

• Scenario

  

  A novel viral hemorrhagic fever (unnamed) outbreak occurs during the 2026 FIFA World Cup

• Participants

  

  50+ federal, state, local, international, and nongovernmental organizations

• Conduct Dates

  

  June 24 - 27, 2025

• Location

  

  Multiple transportation nodes, health care facilities, and operations centers