Although the patients showed symptoms of gastroenteritis too, the hospital sources said viral hepatitis could not be ruled out. The hospital resident medical officer B P Patel said the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and the Panchayat health department had been alerted about the report of new scattered cases from Navi Dharati and villages around Por and Kayavahoran.

A VMC spokesman said water samples had been taken, chlorine tablets distributed and the ward offices asked to check all possibilities of water contamination. The Panchayat chief medical officer V T Javli also said all preventive measures were being taken with the help of civic authorities.