Table 1. Incubation periods of febrile travel-related infectious diseases in detail, adapted from (21, e5– e7).
| Incubation period | Bacteria | Viruses | Parasites |
| <14 days | ● Anthrax: 1–6 d ● Bacterial diarrhea: – Campylobacteriosis: 1–10 d – Salmonellosis (NTS): 12–48 hrs – Shigellosis: 1–5 d – Cholera: few hrs – 5 d ● Legionellosis: 5–6 d ● Leptospirosis: 7–12 d ● Melioidosis 2–21 d (rarely mths to yrs) ● Meningococcal meningitis/sepsis: 2–10 d ● Plaque: Bubonic plague: 2–6 d – Primary pneumonic plague: hrs to 2–3 d ● Rickettsioses (spotted fever and tick-bite fever group, Tsutsugamushi fever): 2–14 d ● Relapsing fever: 7 d (2–18 d) ● Typhoid fever: 7–18 d ● Paratyphoid fever: 1–10 d |
● Arboviral disease (dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, Zika fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, West Nile fever): 1–14 d ● Measles: 10–14 d ● Rabies: rarely <14 d ● Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola HF, Lassa HF, Marburg HF, Crimean–Congo HF, yellow fever): 2–21 d ● Viral diseases of the respiratory system: Influenza: 1–3 d, SARS-CoV-2 infection/COVID-19: 5–6 d ● Viral gastroenteritis (e.g., norovirus, rotavirus): 1–2 d |
● Malaria: Plasmodium (P.) falciparum: 6–30 d, P. knowlesi: 10–14 d ● East African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness): 7–21 d |
| 14 days to 6 weeks | ● Bartonellosis: 3 wks (2–14 mths) ● Brucellosis: 1–3 wks (to several mths) ● Melioidosis: 2–21 d (to several years) ● Q fever: 2–3 wks ● Typhoid fever: 7–18 d |
● Acute HIV infection: 10–28 d ● Hepatitis A: 15–50 d (usually 25–30 d) ● Hepatitis E: 26–42 d ● Rubella: 14–21 d ● Rabies: 20–90 d |
● Malaria: P. falciparum: 6–30 d, P. vivax/ovale: 12 d –12 Mo, P. malariae: 13–28 d ● Acute schistosomiasis (Katayama fever): 28–60 d |
| >6 weeks | ● Tuberculosis: 6–8 wks (primary infection), usually asymptomatic | ● Hepatitis B: 60–150 d ● Rabies: rarely up to years |
● Malaria: P. vivax/ovale: up to 12 mths ● Amoebic liver abscess: wks to mths ● Visceral leishmaniasis: 2–10 mths ● West African trypanosomiasis: wks to mths |
d, days; HF, hemorrhagic fever; hrs, hours; mths, months; NTS, non-typhoidal Salmonella; wks, weeks