Incubation period: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Incubation period is the time elapsed between exposure to a pathogenic organism and when symptoms and signs are first apparent. The period may be as short as minutes, to as long as thirty years in the case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

A person may be a carrier of a disease, such as Streptococcus in the throat without exhibiting any symptoms.