This week a man died in New Jersey of a hemorrhagic fever. This by itself is fairly unusual in the Garden State. Making the case even more odd was that the man was being monitored for Ebola by New Jersey health officials and the case should have been caught earlier.

The events expose a hole in a public health system meant to track potential Ebola cases.The 55-year-old New Jersey resident worked in the mining industry and traveled frequently to West Africa. Two weeks ago he landed at JFK International Airport after a flight from Liberia.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he was screened for Ebola when he landed and did not have a fever. Along with everyone else arriving from what's designated as an Ebola-affected country, he was ordered to undergo a 21-day monitoring program by his local health department. He was supposed to report his temperature daily and notify county health authorities if he got a fever.

When his temperature surged the day after he landed, he didn't follow that plan. Instead he went to Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey.

"According to the hospital, he had been asked whether he had been in West Africa and said no," says Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the CDC. "And there would be no reason to think of a viral hemorrhagic fever in someone who doesn't have a travel history."

The hospital would have had no clue as to his travel history. The Ebola monitoring system does not alert local hospitals that someone on Ebola-watch is in their vicinity and might walk through their doors.

The doctors at St. Barnabas gave the man antibiotics and sent him home.

As the man's condition deteriorated, it's not exactly clear what happened. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health declined a request for an interview about this case, saying it's still under investigation. She did, however, say the man was "actively" being monitored. But if the man had been lying to his case manager about his temperature or other symptoms, officials would have no way to know he was sick.

Laurie Garrett is a fellow at the C