She said the agency feared that there will outbreaks of dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria, and bilharzia, in an area where children have been swimming in the floodwaters amidst human and animal waste.*Drinking water and health care** In Gao city, power shortages are posing a threat to the operation of the water-treatment plant and to the process of sinking of boreholes as a source of drinking water for the residents.