Risks of disease as Pakistan floods recede

Floodwaters are receding in Pakistan's worst-hit southern Sindh province but the flooded regions have become infested with diseases including malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and skin problems, the southern Sindh provincial government said.

Doctors say they have treated 37,000 sick in flood-hit areas in the past 48 hours. 60 to 70% of blood samples are positive for malaria. Authorities say it will take months to completely drain the water in the province, where waterborne diseases and skin infections are spreading. The flood has killed 1,545 people since mid-June, inundated millions of acres of land and affected 33 million people.