GENEVA, Sept 5: Cholera had broken out among up to 300,000 Pakistanis who fled the fighting between government forces and militants, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday.

The situation in the Bajaur region remains “very volatile” despite a government-declared ceasefire for Ramazan, a senior ICRC official said.

The humanitarian agency’s top priority was providing clean water and sanitation to tens of thousands who fled Bajaur for nearby Lower Dir district since the conflict intensified four weeks ago.

“Cholera has started in certain areas... It is a major concern,” Pascal Cuttat, head of ICRC’s delegation in Pakistan, told a news briefing.

“The most immediate need remains access to clean water and sanitation. No food, health care or shelter is going to be of any good if people get water-borne diseases,” he said.

Cholera, transmitted mainly through contaminated water and food, was already endemic in the area, he said. It begins with acute watery diarrhoea that in severe cases can cause death by dehydration and kidney failure within hours.

The World Health Organisation said there were cases of acute watery diarrhoea among the displaced, including two children who died, but it had no confirmed reports of cholera.

“We understand these cases of acute watery diarrhoea are being contained. A lot of treatment and sanitation efforts have been undertaken,” WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said in Geneva.—Reuters