Hantavirus live updates: Evacuations begin after MV Hondius arrives in Canary Islands

An airplane from the U.S. is expected to land in Tenerife, in the Canary Island, at 5:23 p.m. local time/12:23 p.m. Eastern time, according to a source in the Spanish president's office.

The aircraft will carry U.S. passengers only, according to the source. There are 17 U.S. citizens aboard the ship who will be returning to the United States.

As of now, the U.S. airplane 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, the source said.

The passengers onboard the MV Hondius began disembarking from the ship in Tenerife on Sunday morning.

-ABC News' Aicha El Hammar

"The average person has no reason to worry" about potential hantavirus infection, according to an expert with the World Health Organization (WHO).

"This Andes hantavirus has spread in limited amount from human to human ... This is not COVID, this is not passing someone in a hallway in an airport outside at a stadium and getting infected," Dr. Boris Pavlin, an epidemiologist and the team lead for Field and Humanitarian Epidemiology at the WHO, told ABC News.

He also said the investigation in the hantavirus infection cluster's origin indicates "there's absolutely every reason to believe that this came from rodents" and that it did not originate from the region the ship departed, but elsewhere in northern Argentina and Chile, where the long-tailed rice rat, which is the specific carrier of the Andes hantavirus strain, is common. Pavlin also confirmed that the first hantavirus cases on board the MV Hondius had previously traveled to this region in the north.

Pavlin additionally confirmed that no one on board was currently showing any symptoms but were "just being monitored as a precautionary measure." He also said he understands why people are concerned.

"I know it's a new name for a lot of people, but this is not a new virus. We've known about it for decades and it's not surprising us," Pavlin said.

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

Passengers onboard the MV Hondius began disembarking in small groups on Sunday morning, heading for the shore in Tenerife, where they were expected to continue on to charter flights back to their home countries.

Spain’s health minister, Monica Garcia, who was at the port in the Canary Islands on Sunday, said the remaining passengers were all thought to be asymptomatic.

"The entire operation is proceeding normally and I said the first to disembark will be the Spanish citizens, and then the flight to the Netherlands will depart," Garcia said prior to the passengers' beginning of their departures from the ship.

Flights were planned for passengers who were headed to Canada, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the United States, she said.

"The Netherlands will send two planes: today's plane and another one tomorrow, which we'll call a 'sweeper plane,' to pick up any passengers not picked up by the other countries," she said. "But in principle, well, throughout today and tomorrow, all the planes of all nationalities will be disembarked and taken back to their respective countries."

-ABC News' Rashid Haddou and Maggie Rulli

The MV Hondius arrived early on Sunday off the coast of Tenerife, dropping anchor near the industrial port of Granadilla at about 5:30 a.m. local time.

Evacuations from the ship were expected to began as soon as possible.

The local government in the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off the northwestern African coast, said it would like everyone off the boat and out of the Canary Islands by today.

They also said they want the boat to depart by end of day.

-ABC News’ Magie Rulli, Dragana Jovanovic and Aicha El Hammar Castano