A flight carrying U.S. citizens who were on the ship arrived Monday in Nebraska.
Passengers onboard the MV Hondius cruise ship started disembarking Sunday in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, to be transferred to charter flights back to their home countries.
The total number of confirmed and probable cases of hantavirus onboard the ship has risen to 10, including two people confirmed to have died from the virus and one person who remains suspected to have died from the virus.
On Monday, 16 American cruise ship passengers arrived at the University of Nebraska Medical Center; 15 are in the quarantine unit and one person is in the biocontainment unit, officials said. Two other American cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta “for further assessment and care," officials said.
Here's what you need to know about hantavirus including what it is, how it spreads, how it's treated and if there are any prevention methods:
What is hantavirus?
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause serious illnesses and death, according to the CDC.
How does hantavirus spread?
Hantaviruses may also spread from person to person, but that also is rare and only suspected for one subtype from South America, according to the WHO.
Read more about hantavirus here.
Initial genetic analyses confirmed that the hantavirus on the Hondius cruise ship is of the "known Andes variant and rule out any relevant mutations," Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said in a post on social media.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Jan Dobrogowski, the captain of the Hondius, recorded a message thanking passengers and crew for their patience during the “extremely challenging” last few weeks.
“What touched me the most, what moved me the most, was your patience, your discipline, and also kindness -- kindness that you show to each other. ... I've witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength," Dobrogowski said, according to the Associated Press.
He added, “Our thoughts are with the ones that are no longer with us. ... This can be very painful to the people on board, especially already dealing with grief, worry and perhaps uncertainty.”
One of the five French passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius has tested positive for hantavirus, according to French Health Minister Stephanie Rist, who spoke to French public radio on Monday morning.
The passenger showed symptoms on the plane to France, and their condition worsened overnight, Rist said. They are in a specialist infectious diseases hospital, she said.
Additionally, France has identified 22 "contact cases" -- people who may have come into contact with those infected with hantavirus, she said. These people were on two flights where someone with hantavirus was also on board and have been isolating, according to Rist.
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule
A plane carrying American passengers who were evacuated on Sunday from a hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrived early on Monday in Nebraska.
Officials on Sunday said one of the passengers arriving at Omaha's Eppley Airfield via a Department of State airlift tested positive for the virus.
That passenger and another were on the plane were traveling in the aircraft's biocontainment units "out of an abundance of caution," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
