The history of entamoebiasis.

This review article summarizes the history of amoebic dysentery (entamoebiasis) caused by . Initially, species were thought to be the most primitive extant eukaryotes, but more recent research revealed that they emerged relatively late in evolutionary history. Paleoparasitological data suggest that has been a parasite of humans since ancient times and was probably spread throughout the world by man during early human migration. By the end of the 19th century, it was established that was the etiological agent of amoebic dysentery and liver abscess. The issue over pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains of was resolved in the 1980s by the discovery of the morphologically indistinguishable harmless sister species . Being mainly a disease of tropical and subtropical low-income countries, entamoebiasis cases have increased among travellers and immigrants arriving from endemic regions in recent years.