SAsia flood waters retreat but disease stalks millions

DHAKA (AFP) - Muddy waters receded in Bangladesh and other parts of South Asia on Saturday but disease and hunger stalked millions of people hit by the worst monsoon flooding in decades.

The inundation has been linked to at least 2,200 deaths in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, the United Nations said in a statement, as illness loomed over a vast number of people.

Diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, cholera and typhoid threatened the millions affected by the deluge who still lack safe drinking water, medicine and hygienic food.

"Even in the worst floods in 1998, we did not have as many patients. It's like a war," said Ramzan Ali, the manager of Bangladesh's biggest hospital for diarrhea sufferers in Dhaka, the country's capital.

"We have put up tents in the parking lot and open spaces to set up makeshift wards," Ali said.

Some 1,000 patients were admitted with diarrhea on Friday, Ali said.

More than 70,000 people have been hospitalized with water-borne diseases, said Aisha Akhter, the head of the Bangladesh government's health control room.