Entamoeba histolytica, an anaerobic protozoan parasite, affects 50 million people worldwide. A potential cause of amoebic dysentery, liver abscess, and other extraintestinal disease, amoebiasis is caused by fecal contamination of drinking water and food.
The majority of people infected with entamoeba histolytica develop asymptomatic infections including colonization of their large bowel. About 10% of infections cause symptomatic disease.