The outbreak is now taking place as the summer travel is about to get underway.
"(I'm) not going on a cruise ship any time soon, I will tell you that," said Durham resident Charlini Sanharan. "If and when I travel, I'll probably try to be a bit more vigilant and wear a mask if someone is coughing next to me."
Cary resident Mo Choudhury was less deterred.
"I don't necessarily feel like I would hold off on traveling," Choudhury said. "Precaution-wise, you just stick to, in some ways, your COVID practices of good hygiene."
A North Carolina resident was exposed to the virus on a cruise ship. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is not releasing information on that individual.
The state resident is one of 17 people in a quarantine unit in Nebraska.
"It's really not something that we suggest people should worry about here in North Carolina," said NCDHHS State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Carl Williams.
NCDHHS says the risk of infection in North Carolina remains extremely low and that there are no cases in NC.
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"This is something that's been known for quite some time, 30 years now, and it just doesn't transmit as easily as COVID, and it doesn't cause those large-scale outbreaks like COVID," said Williams.
The state said it's still finalizing plans with federal authorities on how the exposed person will return to North Carolina.
"We would ensure that any plans that we put in place make sure that both the patient, well, and all three actually, the patient, the health care workers, if they're involved, and the public are completely safe during that process," said NCDHHS Preparedness and Strategic Operations Assistant Chief Kimblery Clement.