Craig Spencer crisscrossed New York City in the days after he returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa — riding the subway, going for a three-mile run, grabbing coffee on the High Line, bowling in Brooklyn.

And while the 33-year-old doctor notified authorities when he developed a fever and was quickly isolated at Bellevue Hospital Center, his own Ebola diagnosis prompted the governors of New York and New Jersey on Friday to impose a mandatory 21-day quarantine for medical workers returning from the countries hit hardest by the epidemic. Illinois later in the day imposed similar restrictions.

The new quarantine rules, instituted late Friday by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), came amid a deepening debate across the country over whether federal restrictions need to be tightened for anyone arriving in the United States from the Ebola-stricken countries of West Africa.

Those in favor of strict quarantines argue that the current federal requirement — that travelers without symptoms take their temperatures regularly and report them to state and local health departments — are too lax and that it’s foolish to allow people with potential exposure to Ebola to move freely throughout society.