A New York doctor who was part of a team of health workers caring for Ebola patients in West Africa tested positive for the virus Thursday, causing an onslaught of social media criticism as to why he went bowling instead of going into voluntary self-quarantine within the 21 days since he returned from Guinea.

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The 33-year-old doctor, Craig Spencer, worked with Doctors Without borders, and had just recently returned to the United States within the self-quarantine period of 21 days.

On Wednesday, a day before he tested positive for the virus, Spencer had gone to a Williamsburg bowling center via A and L subway lines, and took a cab back to Manhattan.

On Thursday, Spencer reported that his temperature had reached 103 degrees, causing people to criticize Spencer's choice of going bowling on Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News.

According to a post in Twitter, "A doctor who has worked with Ebola returns home, to a huge city and doesn't self quarantine..in fact, goes bowling. Are all doctors idiots?"

According to the New Republic, most medical violations are made by health care practitioners.

Other Twitter posts have stated that it was irresponsible for a physician to break protocol and potentially expose hundreds of people to the deadly virus. 

At present, Spencer is in an isolation unit at the Bellevue Hospital center, along with at least three people who might have come in contact with him, according to city officials.

At the same time, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent its own team of laboratory crew to verify the test on Spencer, which was done by a lab in New York.

According to city officials, despite having expected that the virus will eventually reach the city and having prepared for it since the outbreak began, Spencer's case has brought up the challenges in containing the virus in a city as congested as New York.

During a media conference Thursday night, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, said residents of the city can rest assured that the situation is being handled by the authorities and that there is no need to be alarmed.

The mayor said that being in the same place as a person with the virus "does not put a person at risk of contracting the virus."

Ebola is spread once a person is already exhibiting the symptoms of the disease, and can only be transmitted through direct contact with a sick person's body fluids.

TagsNew York City, new york doctor, doctor with ebola, Ebola Virus, Ebola in US, Virus, outbreak, doctors without borders, CDC, twitter storm, West Africa, quarantine