Doctors said the condition of all the patients was stable, and that they were being constantly monitored. They said the wife and the son of the new patient, Chaganbhai Jaiswal, were already being treated for dropsy at the hospital. One of the patients, Abdul Razzak, however, complained that an eye test had not been performed on him.

Meanwhile, the health department claimed that a huge stock of palmolein -- some 20,000 litres -- suspected to have been adulterated with argemone oil had been seized from a Chatral factory on Monday.

Health and Family Welfare minister Ashok Bhatt said the palmolein -- sold under the Surdhara brandname -- was being tested at Food and Drug Control Administration laboratory in Vadodara. The laboratory stated on Tuesday evening that none of the 18 samples of palmolein it had tested contained argemone oil.

Bhatt said several residents of Godra in the Panchmahals district on Tuesday returned tins of the tainted Krishna brand groundnut oil to dealers. On Monday, traders, too, had returned 60 15-kg tins of groundnut oil to the stockist. Six tins of the Krishna brand of groundnut oil seized from the Pavijetpur taluka of Vadodara were sent to the laboratory for testing.

While Mastan, Kiran, Appu and Baba brands of mustard oil were taken for testing, the Gulab, Ankur, Kiran and Krishna brands of groundnut oil were also being tested. The Tirupati, Trupti, Trimurti, Ankur, Vimal and Shresth brands of cottonseed oil are also being tested at the Vadodara laboratory. The reports are likely in a week.

Panchmahals Collector A K Rakesh told Express Newsline that one sample of Krishna groundnut oil which was sent for testing was also not found adulterated.

Despite this, the collector has issued instructions asking his officers to persuade citizens in the Panchmahals district not to consume Krishna brand groundnut oil. Some 60,000 litre of groundnut oil (reportedly adulterated) had come into circulation in the Panchmahals district from Sabarkantha.

Rakesh said the staff was issued instructions to seize remaining stock. No case was reported from Panchmahals, Vadodara or Dahod.

Meanwhile, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation on Tuesday seized 11 tins of Krishna groundnut oil (sourced from Jamnagar) from the Kalyani Depot in Gendigate. A vigil would be maintained, said deputy municipal commissioner (administration) H S Patel.