Hantavirus live updates: 1 American tests positive, another symptomatic, HHS says

The plane carrying the 18 Americans who disembarked from the MV Hondius has departed Spain and is heading back to the United States.

The American passengers who disembarked from the MV Hondius have arrived at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands.

A total 18 people will be on the American repatriation flight, including the 17 Americans and one British national who is a resident of the U.S., the Spanish minister of health told ABC News.

-ABC News' Maggie Rulli

The 17 Americans aboard the MV Hondius have begun disembarking from the ship.

As of Saturday, none of the American passengers had tested positive for the hantavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The aircraft that will return the Americans to the U.S. is expected to take off from Tenerife at 9:30 p.m. local time/4:30 p.m. Eastern time but could possibly depart earlier if circumstances allow, a source with the Spanish president's office previously told ABC News. It is not yet clear if or when that aircraft has landed in Tenerife.

The passengers will be flown to the National Quarantine Unit in Omaha, Nebraska, managed by Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the only federally funded quarantine unit in the U.S.

During a press briefing Friday, officials with the National Quarantine Unit said there is not yet a defined period for how long the passengers would remain at the unit.

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic, Aicha El Hammar and Maggie Rulli

A person who was among five French nationals aboard the MV Hondius has shown signs of hantavirus infection, according to the French prime minister.

"Five of our compatriots present on the MV Hondius, a hotbed of Hantavirus infection, have been repatriated to national territory. One of them exhibited symptoms on the repatriation flight," Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu posted Sunday on X.

"As a result, these five passengers were immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice," Lecornu said, adding that the passengers "are receiving medical care and will undergo testing and a full health assessment."

"Starting this evening, I will issue a decree to implement appropriate isolation measures for close contacts and to protect the general population," Lecornu added.

If confirmed, the French national would bring to nine the total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.