DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2020.25.5.2000062 ISSN:

Incubation period of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections among travellers from Wuhan, China, 20–28 January 2020

Jantien A Backer, Don Klinkenberg, Jacco Wallinga
  • Virology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Epidemiology

A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is causing an outbreak of viral pneumonia that started in Wuhan, China. Using the travel history and symptom onset of 88 confirmed cases that were detected outside Wuhan in the early outbreak phase, we estimate the mean incubation period to be 6.4 days (95% credible interval: 5.6–7.7), ranging from 2.1 to 11.1 days (2.5th to 97.5th percentile). These values should help inform 2019-nCoV case definitions and appropriate quarantine durations.

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