Cambodia has a pollution problem, but it is not of the same nature as the carbon monoxide crises in neighbouring capitals such as Bangkok and Jakarta: Phnom Penh is the only city in Cambodia that suffers from air pollution. The country does, however, suffer the ill-effects of an extremely primitive sanitation system in urban areas, and in rural areas sanitary facilities are nonexistent, with only a tiny percentage of the population having access to proper facilities. These conditions breed and spread disease, with people being forced to defecate on open ground and urinate in rivers. Epidemics of diarrhoea are not uncommon and it is the number-one killer of young children in Cambodia. This type of biological pollution may not be as immediately apparent as smog over a city, but in the shorter term it is far more hazardous to the average Cambodian.