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Nearly 800 people have died in a recent malaria outbreak in northern Cameroon, one described by public health officials as "a severe and sudden epidemic," CNN reported.

Doctors treating more than 12,000 victims of the disease say those who died in the past three weeks were mostly young children and pregnant women.

Heavy rains have flooded the region around Maroua, giving mosquitoes ideal breeding conditions.

"This is a severe and sudden epidemic. I see no end in sight," Dr. Amos Ekane, a malaria specialist treating more than 2,000 victims in Maroua, told CNN.

Wednesday, a panel of Cameroonian journalists on state radio criticized the government for not spreading the news about the outbreak and not requesting international aid.

According to the Public Health Ministry, more than 12,000 people are seriously ill and have been admitted to hospitals. But there are fewer than 10 treatment centers are available to help those who've contracted the mosquito-borne illness, and thousands of children and women are forced to sleep in the open or in overcrowded rooms without mosquito nets.

"Three of my children have died here. Here is my wife lying helplessly with drips tied to this tree," Abubakar Ardo Miro told CNN, pointing out the conditions at the overcrowded Maroua regional hospital.

"Only a few qualified physicians are available in the regional government hospital to handle malaria cases. This cannot yield a favorable result," Ekane warned.

The Cameroon Medical Council -- a body governing the medical core in the West African nation -- estimates a ratio of one doctor to every 40,000 patients. Less than 1,000 physicians currently work in the country, the council says, and toil under poor conditions and low wages.

"This is really a mess to the Cameroon government," Tataw Eric Tano, a newspaper publisher in Cameroo, told CNN by phone.

Health experts blame the upsurge of malaria cases on the poor use of malaria nets that were distributed free of charge among nearly 9 million Cameroonians in 2010.

But a dwindling economy and the scarcity of food has forced some families to use the nets for other purposes.