New Delhi - Cases of cholera and asthma are increasing among victims and survivors of Cyclone Nargis, said an aid worker in Rangoon who visited the Irrawaddy Delta.

The aid worker, who request anonymity, said several cyclone victims, mostly children, are beginning to suffer from cholera after drinking contaminated water.

"Since aid is not reaching as it should be, villagers are forced to use the water which is contaminated by dead bodies," the aid worker said.

The aid worker said the refugees are also beginning to suffer from asthma.

"Though people know that the water is contaminated, they have no choice but to use it, and they start having diseases," said the aid worker, who had just returned from Laputta town, one of the hardest-hit by the cyclone.

He said that while a few people have been grouped in refugee camps, many people still not yet made it to refugee camps.

A Rangoon based weekly editor who visited Kunchankone and Kawhmu townships in Rangoon division told Mizzima that he had seen several people infected by Cholera.

"I saw 11 people who said they are now suffering from Cholera. There could be more," said the editor. Seven were children.

Aid agency Oxfam on Sunday warned that as many as 1.5 million cyclone victims are at great risk of disease and death if aid supplies do not reach them soon.

A Mizzima correspondent in Rangoon, who visited Kunchankone and Kywunchaung in Rangoon division and parts of Irrawaddy division such as Deadeye town, said the potential outbreak of diseases could be avoided if aid and relief workers arrive in time.

"These potential problems [diseases] can still be avoided," said the correspondent.

However, he said aid is not arriving quickly enough. He said villagers are rushing along the road to get the few items of aid brought by government officials.