Two New York City police officers who attended the apartment of New York's first confirmed Ebola victim have been captured on video discarding their protective gloves and masks in a public rubbish bin.

It was not immediately clear if the officers had been inside Dr Craig Spencer's Harlem apartment, but the video, which was published on the Daily Mail's website, spread concern throughout the city.

Several social media users took to Twitter to criticize the NYPD for discarding the items publicly.

I'm as anti Ebola hysteria as anyone, but really NYPD? Dumping protective gear in public?http://t.co/Zeo8SJCB2M — B. Morgan (@bm87x) October 24, 2014

Sending NYPD to an Ebola infected home is not smart! Where is the NYC Health Dept or other health trained personnel? — Denyse Naylor (@DenyseNaylor) October 24, 2014

Wow they did everything wrong, including touching the outside of their gloves. MT @HuffingtonPost: NYPD gloves, masks http://t.co/1ilDujRInB — Shubbie (@shOoObz) October 24, 2014

On Thursday, it was revealed that Spencer spent seven days in New York after returning from Guinea with the Ebola virus in his bloodstream.