Maroua , Cameroon ( CNN ) -- Cameroon authorities have found six more bodies in flood waters , bringing the number killed to as high as 40 in the wake of tropical downpours and the breaching of a dam in the west African country . The inundation in the Far North Region has affected more than 26,000 , officials said Thursday , and in neighboring Nigeria at least 15 deaths are blamed on waters rushing into the country from Cameroon 's compromised Lagdo Dam on the Benoue River . Cameroon 's Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary has described the flooding as `` a calamity '' and called for urgent action to save lives and property . Local officials are calling it the worst flood disaster in over 60 years . Water has submerged swaths of the North Region downstream , wiping out homes , farms and livestock , and Cameroon 's government has dispatched a military contingency to assist and evacuate victims . Aid agencies Plan International Cameroon and the United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA ) fear infectious diseases - in particular cholera and malaria - could spread with the water , as is often the case . About 3,000 people have been hospitalized , and tents have been erected to house victims . In 2010 , flooding in northern Cameroon triggered an outbreak of cholera that claimed nearly 6,000 lives , according to official estimates . Thousands of children are suffering from respiratory problems brought on by the flooding , and malaria infections among pregnant women are running high , according to Dr Alain Njiki of the UNFPA , which normally offers reproductive health services in Cameroon but has had to double as a medical aid agency since the flooding began . Food supplies are running low , boosting worries about malnutrition , and tent shelters are inadequate for the tens of thousands of displaced flood victims , said Demian Toh from the Red Cross . Cameroon 's president Paul Biya and a delegation of ministers Thursday offered supplies and vaccination kits in UN camps for internally displaced persons . A flood victim in one camp who preferred anonymity said the government assistance is too small and sidelining thousands of families .
More bodies discovered floating in the flood waters . Nearly a week of heavy rain has damaged homes and farms and killed livestock . A dam failure has caused a river to flood , and is notorious for drownings .