Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting at Manson House, London, 19 February 1998. Amoebic disease. Entamoeba dispar, an organism reborn.

Entamoeba dispar was described by Emile Brumpt in 1925, and was promptly dismissed as a synonym of E. histolytica by almost all his contemporaries. In the 1970s, however, evidence began to accumulate indicating that Brumpt may have been correct and E. dispar is now accepted as a distinct species. This review introduces the organism's history and briefly summarizes what we currently know about its biology. The acceptance of E. dispar has profound implications for our understanding of the epidemiology of amoebiasis and, ultimately, may give us an insight into what makes E. histolytica a pathogen.