Extreme heat and heavy rain in Myanmar could cause disease outbreaks among earthquake survivors camping in the open, aid bodies warn, complicating rescue efforts made difficult by a civil war as the death toll surpasses 3000.
Last Friday's 7.7-magnitude quake, one of Myanmar's strongest in a century, jolted a region home to 28 million, toppling buildings such as hospitals, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter.
Deaths rose to 3085 on Thursday, with 4715 injured and 341 missing, the ruling junta said.
The World Health Organisation flagged a rising risk of cholera and other diseases in the worst-affected areas, such as Mandalay, Sagaing and the capital Naypyitaw, while it prepared $US1 million ($A1.6 million) of relief supplies, including body bags.
"Cholera remains a particular concern for all of us," said Elena Vuolo, the deputy head of its Myanmar office, pointing to an outbreak in 2024 in Mandalay.
The risk was worsened by damage to about half of healthcare facilities in the quake-hit areas, including hospitals destroyed by the quake in Mandalay and Naypyitaw, she said.
People were camping outdoors in 38C temperatures because they were too scared to go home, and many hospitals were also setting up temporary facilities there, Vuolo told Reuters from Naypyitaw.
Skin disease, malaria and dengue were among the diseases that could result from prolonged crises such as in Myanmar, she said.
But conditions could get even tougher for the huge relief effort as weather officials warn that unseasonal rain from Sunday to April 11 could threaten the areas hardest hit by the quake.
"If (the rain( hits, we've got people, lots of people now, in temporary shelters, makeshift camps out on the streets, and that's going to be a real problem," Titon Mitra, the Myanmar representative of the United Nations Development Programme told Reuters.
Despite the devastation, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has left his disaster-stricken country on Thursday for a rare trip to a regional summit in Bangkok.
It is an uncommon foreign visit for a general who is the subject of Western sanctions and an International Criminal Court investigation.
The weather extremes will add to the challenges faced by aid and rescue groups, which have called for access to all affected areas despite the strife of civil war.
The military has struggled to run Myanmar since its return to power in a 2021 coup that unseated the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The generals have been internationally isolated since the takeover and Myanmar's economy and basic services, including health care, have been reduced to tatters amid the strife.
The government declared a unilateral ceasefire for 20 days to support relief efforts after the quake, but warned authorities would "respond accordingly" if rebels launched attacks.
The move came a day after a major rebel alliance declared a ceasefire to assist the humanitarian effort.
Nearly a week after the quake, searchers in neighbouring Thailand hunting for survivors combed a mountain of debris left after a skyscraper in the capital, Bangkok, collapsed while under construction, killing 15 people, with 72 still missing.
Thailand's nationwide toll stands at 22.
