The first US aid flight for Burma took off today, after a week of negotiations with the ruling military junta, as aid workers and survivors give their accounts of the aftermath of cyclone Nargis.

Cases of cholera and asthma are increasing among survivors, an aid worker told Mizzima - the Burmese dissident website based in New Delhi. "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.

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Only around 20% of the aid needed is getting into Burma, according to the World Food Programme.