An incubation (or onset) period is the amount of time (hours, days, weeks) between when you’re infected and when you might begin to see symptoms.
It’s different for every pathogen.
Foodborne illness is most often caused by directly consuming food contaminated with a pathogen, an infectious agent that causes illness or disease.
Secondary infection can be caused by coming into contact with another person who is infected (person to person transmission), such as occurs in settings like childcare facilities and nursing homes.
Pathogens can also be contracted by drinking or swimming in water contaminated by cattle runoff or swimming in pools with inadequate sanitization. Direct animal to human transmission can occur, for instance at petting zoos.
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