Incubation period for febrile illnesses

Common Infections

• Less than 10 days
  • Arboviruses
  • Gastroenteritis
  • Respiratory infections
• 10 days to 3 weeks
  • Enteric fever
  • Leptospirosis
  • Melioidosis
  • Q fever
• More than 3 weeks
  • Bacteria (TB, brucellosis)
  • Tick fever
  • Relapsing fever
  • CMV/EBV/HIV/HAV/HBV/HCV
  • Malaria
  • Trypanosomiasis
  • Coccidiomycosis
  • Histoplasmosis

By Organism

Bacteria

	Usual incubation period	Incubation period range
Anaplasma phagocytophilum	1 to 2 weeks
Bacillus anthracis	2 to 5 days
Bartonella henselae	3 to 10 days
Bordetella pertussis	7 to 10 days	5 to 21 days
Borrelia recurrentis	7 days	2 to 18 days
Brucella melitensis	2-4 weeks	5 days to 6 months
Burkholderia pseudomallei	9 days	1 to 21 days
Chlamydia psittaci	4 to 15 days
Chlamydia trachomatis	2 to 3 weeks
Clostridium tetani	3 to 21 days
Corynebacterium diphtheriae	2 to 4 days
Coxiella burnetii	20 days	1 to 39 days
Ehrlichia	7 days
Enteric fever	5 to 21 days
Francisella tularensis	3 to 5 days	1 to 21 days
Klebsiella granulomatis	50 days	1 to 360 days
Legionella	2 to 10 days	up to 28 days
Leptospira	10 days	5 to 14 days
Listeria monocytogenes	30 days	11 to 90 days
Mycobacterium avium complex	months to years
Mycobacterium chimaera	14.5 months	6 weeks to 5 years
Mycobacterium leprae	3-5 years	wide range
Neisseria gonorrhoeae	10 days 3 to 5 days
Non-typhoidal Salmonella	6 to 48 hours	up to 7 days
Rickettsia akari	7 to 14 days
Rickettsia conorii	7 days
Rickettsia prowazekii	1 to 2 weeks
Rickettsia rickettsii	7 days	2 to 14 days
Rickettsia typhi	1 to 2 weeks
Streptobacillus moniliformis	10 days	1 to 22 days
Tick-borne relapsing fever	7 days	2 to 18 days
Treponema pallidum pallidum	3 weeks	3 to 90 days
Yersinia enterocolitica	1 to 14 days

Empty strings are not accepted.

Viruses

	Usual incubation period	Incubation period range
Chikungunya virus	1 to 12 days
Dengue virus	4 to 7 days
Eastern equine encephalitis virus	4 to 10 days
Ebola virus	3 to 13 days	2 to 21 days
Epstein-Barr virus	30 to 50 days
Hantavirus	14 days	5 to 42 days
Hepatitis A virus	15 to 50 days
Hepatitis C virus	5 to 12 weeks
Hepatitis D virus	3 to 7 weeks
Hepatitis E virus	4 to 6 weeks
Herpes simplex virus	within 5 days
Human immunodeficiency virus	2 to 6 weeks
Human papillomavirus	3 to 4 months	6 weeks to 2 years
Marburg virus	2 to 21 days
Measles virus	10 to 14 days	up to 21 days
Mpox virus	12 days
Mumps virus	16 to 18 days	2 to 4 weeks
Neonatal HSV	7 to 21 days	birth to 6 weeks
Norovirus	24 to 48 hours
Poliovirus	9 to 12 days	5 to 35 days
Powassan virus	1 to 3 weeks
Rabies virus	within 90 days	days to more than 19 years
Respiratory syncytial virus	3 to 5 days	up to 8 days
Ross River virus	7 to 9 days	3 to 21 days
Rubella virus	18 days	12 to 23 days
SARS-CoV-2	4 to 5 days	2 to 11 days
Saint Louis encephalitis virus	4 to 21 days
Tick-borne encephalitis virus	8 days	4 to 28 days
Varicella-zoster virus	10 to 21 days
Variola virus	12 to 14 days	7 to 17 days
West Nile virus	3 to 14 days	2 to 21 days
Zika virus	3 to 14 days

Empty strings are not accepted.

Fungi

	Usual incubation period	Incubation period range
Blastomyces dermatitidis	3 weeks to 3 months
Coccidioides immitis	1 to 3 weeks
Sporothrix schenckii	7 to 30 days

Empty strings are not accepted.

Parasites

	Usual incubation period	Incubation period range
Babesia microti	1 to 6 weeks
Cryptosporidium hominis	7 days	1 to 30 days
Cystoisospora belli	1 week
Giardia lamblia	1 to 2 weeks
Leishmania	2 weeks to several months	up to several years
Sarcocystis	2 days
Strongyloides stercoralis	2 weeks
Taenia solium	3 to 5 years	up to 30 years
Trichinella spiralis	less than 1 month
Trypanosoma brucei	weeks to months
Trypanosoma cruzi	1 week

Empty strings are not accepted.