Bihar, India
Nearly 20 million people in South Asia were stranded this week, following two weeks of monsoon rains that caused severe flooding in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. At least 375 people were killed in the floods, and millions are now at risk of disease. “Entire villages are days away from a health crisis,” said Marzio Babille, UNICEF’s health chief in India. “Stagnant waters left by the floods are a lethal breeding ground for diarrhea and waterborne disease at potential epidemic level.” As the floodwaters began to recede this week, medical workers moved across India, distributing chlorine tablets to purify drinking water. In the state of Uttar Pradesh, more than a thousand people have already come down with cholera.
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