There are also outbreaks of cholera. In Basra, there are 66 confirmed cases of cholera, with three people having died from the disease. Of the 66 cases, 79% are children under five years old and 59% of the victims are girls. There are also clinically confirmed cases of cholera in Nassariya and Missan, but these cases have yet to be confirmed through laboratory tests. This is due to a serious lack of the required medical equipment in the south and throughout Iraq as a whole. Dysentery and typhoid are also becoming a real problem for children. Dysentery is spread through contaminated water and food. The bacteria lodge in the intestines of a child and erode the intestinal wall, leading to bloody diarrhoea. Typhoid, which is also spread by contaminated food, is being seen throughout the capital as well. The current worry is that prior to the war and the collapse of the health system there was rigorous surveillance of typhoid, but now there is none. There is no reporting and no surveillance.