Incubation period

The time between when the host is infected by a pathogen and when the host actually begins to show symptoms is called the incubation period. Some diseases, like various kinds of food poisoning, have a very rapid incubation period of less than 24 hours; whereas some other diseases, like HIV, have longer incubation periods of months or years. Some diseases have incubation periods that are highly variable. Hosts infected with rabies, for instance, can take anywhere from a few days to several months to show symptoms.

In order to help you identify the incubation period of the pathogen responsible for this outbreak, you will need to think about when you think each victim was exposed to the pathogen and when they actually started feeling sick. This will be easier to determine after you have identified what you believe to be the mode of transmission. You timeline will be very helpful to you in determining the likely incubation period. You may not be able to determine the exact incubation period for each host, but you can determine what the maximum possible incubation period could be.



Based on the information from your interviews and the guidance in the tutorial, which of the following do you think best describes the likely incubation period of the disease in this outbreak?

A. Less than 24 hours

B. Between one week and one month

C. Several months