What is the latency period? considering the definition of latent, what makes this term ironic?

Explanation:While latent or latency period may be synonymous, a distinction is sometimes made between incubation period, the period between infection and onset of the disease, and latent period, the time from infection to infectiousness ... During latency, an infection is subclinical.

Princeton's WordNet. reaction time, response time, latency, latent period (noun) the time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it. latent period (noun) the time that elapses before the presence of a disease is manifested by symptoms