The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it needed a total of 51.9 million Swiss francs (42 million dollars, 33 million euros) to help an estimated 210,000 people over eight months and ward off the threat of disease.

"The scale of the disaster is so great that emergency relief will be required for several months to come," the Federation's president, Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro said in a statement.

The massive earthquake on December 26 virtually levelled the town of Bam, killing some 30,000 people, injuring about 30,000 more and leaving an estimated 75,000 people homeless.

"The people of Bam need adequate shelter, food, health services and sanitation for the foreseeable future. If they don't get this, we risk seeing epidemics developing and more suffering and heartache," Suarez del Toro cautioned.

With thousands sleeping in the open in freezing temperatures in southeastern Iran and few sanitation facilities, the risk of respiratory infections has increased sharply, the Federation pointed out.

Malaria has traditionally been endemic in the area, which has also seen recent outbreaks of typhoid and cholera, it said

About 1,850 unaccompanied children who survived the quake in Bam are also being helped by the Iranian Red Crescent, which needs to provide them with psychological care, accommodation and schooling.

The new appeal includes the 15,4 million Swiss franc emergency fund launched by the Red Cross in the initial stages of the rescue effort after the earthquake struck last month.

TERRA.WIRE