Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response

Pakistan – Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country's history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said

The government says it has deployed thousands of rescue workers who have so far saved an estimated 28,000 people and distributed basic food items.

Thousands more people in the province remain trapped by the floodwaters.

Now people in the northwest also face the threat of waterborne disease — which could kill thousands more if health workers cannot deliver enough clean drinking water and treat and isolate any patients in crowded relief camps

Patients with stomach problems from dirty water are being treated in government medical camps, he said.

Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response by offering millions of dollars in emergency aid.

The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement.

The U.S. provided similar emergency assistance after Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people

Pakistani militant groups often rail against government ineffectiveness as a way to build support, a message likely to resonate with many in the northwest who have criticized the official flood response.

The military has deployed at least 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 28,000 people, said the national government.