Disease | Usual incubation (range) | Distribution |
Incubation period <14 days | ||
Anthrax | 1 to 7 days (can be >2 weeks) | Endemic in agricultural areas |
Bartonellosis (cat-scratch; trench fever; Carrion disease) | 1 to 3 weeks | Some forms worldwide |
Brucellosis* | 2 to 4 weeks (5 days to 5 months) | High risk in parts of Mediterranean, South and Central America, Asia, Africa, Middle East |
Chikungunya | 2 to 4 days (1 to 14 days) | Tropics and subtropics |
Coccidioidomycosis* | 1 to 3 weeks | Southwest United States, Mexico, Central and South America |
Dengue | 4 to 8 days (3 to 14 days) | Tropics and subtropics |
Diphtheria | 2 to 5 days (1 to 10 days) | Endemic in many low- and middle-income countries |
Ehrlichiosis (multiple) | 7 to 10 days (5 to 14 days) | Widespread, including in United States |
Encephalitis, arboviral (Japanese encephalitis, West Nile virus, others) | Japanese encephalitis: 5 to 15 days West Nile virus: 2 to 14 days | Varies with virus |
Enteric fever (typhoid and paratyphoid fevers)* | 7 to 18 days (6 to 45 days) | Especially Indian subcontinent; also Africa |
Hantavirus infections (eg, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, others)* | HFRS: 2 to 4 weeks (few days to 2 months) HPS: 2 weeks (few days to 2 weeks) | HFRS: especially in parts of Asia, Europe HPS: especially in the Americas |
Histoplasmosis (acute)* | 10 to 14 days (3 to 25 days) | Worldwide (except Antarctica); especially river valleys, also caves |
HIV (acute) | 10 days (1 to 6 weeks) | Worldwide |
Influenza | 2 days (1 to 4 days) | Worldwide |
Lassa, Ebola, other viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers* | 7 to 10 days (2 to 21 days) | Sub-Saharan Africa for Ebola, Marburg, Lassa viruses |
Legionellosis | 5 to 6 days (2 to 12 days) | Worldwide |
Leptospirosis* | 7 to 12 days (2 to 26 days) | Widespread; more common in tropical areas |
Lyme disease* | 7 to 12 days for erythema migrans; longer for other manifestations | Especially in parts of North America and Europe |
Malaria, Plasmodium falciparum* | 10 to 12 days (8 days to months) | Especially in parts of Africa, Asia, South America |
Malaria, P. vivax* | 14 days (8 days to months) | Especially in parts of Asia, Africa, South America |
Measles* | 10 to 14 days (8 to 21 days) | Persists in populations with low vaccine coverage; frequent importations and outbreaks globally |
Melioidosis* | 2 days to 3 weeks (days to months) | Widely distributed in tropical areas; especially common Southeast Asia |
Meningococcal infections | 3 to 4 days (2 to 10 days) | Worldwide; epidemiology affected by vaccine use |
Mpox | 3 to 17 days | Worldwide |
Plague | 2 to 7 days for bubonic (1 to 14 days) | Especially common Madagascar; parts of Africa, Asia, South America; focus in western United States |
Psittacosis* | 7 to 14 days (4 to 28 days) | Worldwide |
Q fever* | 18 to 21 days (4 to 39 days) | Worldwide but endemic foci |
Rabies* | 1 to 2 months (4 days to years) | Widespread; especially parts of Asia, Africa, Latin America |
Relapsing fever | 7 to 8 days (2 to 18 days) | Focal areas: Africa, South America, Asia |
Rickettsial infections (spotted fever group and others) | 6 to 7 days (3 to 18 days) | High risk in southern Africa but widely distributed in other regions |
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 | 4 to 5 days (1 to 14 days) | Worldwide |
Scrub typhus (Orientia spp) | 8 to 12 days (3 to 21 days) | Asia-Pacific region |
Tickborne encephalitis* | 8 days (4 to 28 days) | Especially eastern Europe and parts of Asia |
Toxoplasmosis* | 1 to 3 weeks (5 to 23 days) | Worldwide |
Trichinosis* | 10 to 20 days (few days to >2 months) | Widespread; marked variation in incidence |
Trypanosomiasis, African* | 1 to 3 weeks | Sub-Saharan Africa |
Tularemia | 3 to 5 days (1 to 14 days) | Widespread North America, Europe; scattered reports from Asia |
Typhoid fever (refer to enteric fever above)* | ||
Yellow fever | 1 to 6 days (3 to 14 days) | Africa, Latin America |
Zika virus | 5 to 6 days (3 to 14 days) | Tropics, subtropics |
Incubation period 14 days to 6 weeks (refer also to infections above with "*" footnote symbol) | ||
Amebic liver abscess¶ | Weeks to months | Worldwide; more common in areas with poor sanitation |
Hepatitis A | 28 days (15 to 50 days) | Worldwide; especially in areas with poor sanitation |
Hepatitis C¶ | 6 to 9 weeks (2 weeks to 6 months) | Worldwide; marked variation in prevalence |
Hepatitis E¶ | 6 weeks (2 to 9 weeks) | Large waterborne outbreaks in Asia, Africa, Central America; sporadic elsewhere |
Leishmaniasis, visceral¶ | 2 to 6 months (10 days to >1 year) | Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, southern Europe |
Malaria¶ | Weeks to months | Refer to above |
Schistosomiasis (Katayama syndrome)¶ | 14 to 84 days | Especially Asia, Africa, Latin America |
Tuberculosis¶ | Months to years (4 weeks to decades) | Worldwide but marked regional variation in incidence |
Incubation period >6 weeks (refer also to infections above with "¶" footnote symbol) | ||
Fascioliasis | 6 to 12 weeks | Broad distribution, especially parts of South America, Middle East, Asia |
Hepatitis B | 90 days (60 to 150 days) | Global |
Leishmaniasis, visceral | Refer to above | |
Malaria | Refer to above | |
Melioidosis | Refer to above | |
Trypanosomiasis, African | Refer to above |
HFRS: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; HPS: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.
* Incubation period may exceed 14 days.
¶ Incubation period may exceed 6 weeks.Do you want to add Medilib to your home screen?