Harvey's fears were raised when he woke feeling unwell on Monday morning and was forced to miss training for one of the few times in his 18-season career.
But Harvey told reporters on Wednesday morning he had since recovered well and would be fit to return from a six-match suspension against the Western Bulldogs this Saturday.
"I haven't missed a training session in 18 years of football and I wait six weeks to play and on the Monday I woke up feeling a little bit dodgy, (with) just had a little bit of a virus, just a 24-hour bug, but I'm feeling great now," Harvey said at Aegis Park.
"It was (a bit of a scare). I probably could have come into training but the doc said there's no point coming in and I had the Monday off training.
"But hopefully that freshens me up a little bit and I get a couple of kicks on Saturday."
Harvey said the hardest part of his enforced break had been watching North's 2-4 start to the season from the coach's box, knowing he was fully fit and would have been playing but for his suspensions for striking West Coast's Adam Selwood and Daniel Kerr in last year's elimination final.
"Obviously I do feel guilty because I should have been out there helping my teammates, but I think it was more frustration knowing how well we were playing but couldn't get the result on the board," he said.
Harvey said he couldn't help wondering at times whether he would have made a difference in some of North's close losses in the first six rounds, which included a four-point loss to Geelong in round two and a three-point loss to Hawthorn in round five.
But as frustrating as those losses had been, Harvey said he had tried not to dwell on what might have been and focus instead on round seven and beyond.
Looking ahead to this Saturday's clash against the Bulldogs, Harvey said he had had preliminary discussions with coach Brad Scott about whether he would play as North's substitute.
"We've had a quick chat about it and I think he's going to let me know probably tomorrow what my role will be," Harvey said.
"But I've said to him I'm happy to pull on any vest as long as there's the North Melbourne jumper underneath it."
Harvey, who turns 35 next Tuesday, said he hoped his delayed start to the year would ensure he was still going strong at the end of the season when other players were hitting brick walls.
North's games record-holder also said his break from the game had reinforced his desire to extend his 346-game career for as long as possible.
"I still love the game, nothing's changed there," Harvey said.
"I think the most important thing for me is my form and contributing to the team, and Brad and the football club will make that decision.
"If I'm playing good football I would hope Brad says, 'We need you to play' and I'll be putting my hand up to play, don't worry about that."
Nick Bowen covers North Melbourne news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick
