It’s big enough to see from space and 400 times wider than the MCG – but this Queensland “mega river” has existed for all of two weeks.

A year’s worth of flooding rain that raked Townsville before sweeping inland and submerging vast tracts of outback under record-breaking depths of muddy water, has now flooded the Flinders River system into a plain that spans 60km in width.

“The amount of rainfall has been staggering. Above 500mm of rain spread across a vast region – 300km across and 200km north” Sky News Weather channel meteorologist Rob Sharpe told News Corp.

“The Flinders River system is now a flood plain. This is a mega river making its way up to the gulf.”

View photos The river can clearly be seen from live satelite images. Source: Zoom Earth More

View photos The Flinders River is now overflowing to the point that is enveloping other rivers nearby. Source: Zoom Earth More

He said all that water filled one basin and spilt over to the Norman River, creating one enormous flow that is a direct contributor in the death of hundreds of thousands of cattle.

Queensland communities at risk of infection

Their rotting carcasses now pose a high risk of botulism and Q fever to clean-up crews and to local water supplies in flooded communities.

One woman has died and nine people remain seriously ill in Townsville after becoming infected by melioidosis bacteria following the unprecedented flooding.

Townsville Hospital’s Julie Mudd says seven of the sick people remain in hospital in a stable condition, two others are being cared for at home.

View photos Townsville at the height of the flooding. Source: AAP More

View photos More than a year’s rain has fallen on large swathes of north and western Queensland. Source: AAP More

View photos Hundreds of thousands of dead cattle carcasses pose a health risk to Queensland’s rural communities. Source: AAP More

“It’s a very serious infection,” Dr Mudd told reporters.

About one in five people who contract the infection die, however, the infection can be treated with antibiotics, Dr Mudd said.

Heatwave hampering Townsville clean-up

Incubation periods last up to three weeks and the bacteria can enter the body through a cut or a person’s airway.

The elderly and children are at higher risk.

The health warnings come as heatwave conditions roast flood-ravaged Townsville, further complicating already stinky mopping operations.

Temperatures are expected to reach 37 degrees on Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

View photos Residents struggling after Townsville’s devastating flood have also been hit with heatwave conditions. Source: AAP More

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