Morning Briefing

After floods in northwest Pakistan have "already killed up to 1,200 people" and forced 2 million from their homes, authorities are now concerned about disease spread, the Associated Press reports. "To avert the looming threat of spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, we have dispatched dozens of mobile medical teams in the affected districts," said medical official Sohail Altaf. Altaf said no concrete cases of cholera have been reported in the country but "fear of an outbreak is high," and patients with "stomach problems from dirty water" are being seen in medical camps (Brummitt, 8/2).