Four more patients have been admitted to the Zagreb University Hospital since yesterday, one patient has been admitted to the Sister's of Mercy Hospital and one in Varazdin, and it still needs to be determined if their symptoms are related to the consumption of various beverages, it was said on Wednesday.

Not all the patients drank the same drinks, “which further casts doubt on the possible suggestibility of the symptoms,” Health Minister Vili Beros said on Wednesday morning, confirming the cases of hospitalisations due to suspected gastrointestinal problems.

All those latest patients have mild symptoms and most of them will be discharged soon.

“Some (of those hospitalised patients) also consumed some kind of salty sticks. So, we have to connect everything together, put it in the relevant context, and not spread panic any further. The moment a certain connection is established, the public will be informed, and until then only a  recommendation can be given to drink water from the water network,” Beros said.

He stressed there is absolutely no room for panic, but there is a certain amount of caution.

In addition to these several cases that Beros mentioned today, three earlier cases have been registered so far- one in Rijeka and two in Zagreb’s KBC  (Zagreb University Hospital).

Over recent days, social media were flooded with warnings to citizens not to drink non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks produced by Coca-Cola due to the alleged severe poisoning of several persons who drank mineral water in Rijeka cafes and had to seek medical help.

Beroš said that all the suspected cases of contaminated beverages were reported to the law enforcement authorities and the competent state institutions.

HZJZ analysing samples of non-alcoholic beverages from Rijeka

The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) is analysing samples of non-alcoholic drinks from Rijeka which the sanitary inspection has forwarded to the institute for examination.

The HZJZ head Krunoslav Capak said on Tuesday evening that 16 bottles with a total of 8 litres of liquid were being analysed.

He said that some corrosives were probably involved and that now the authorities are trying to establish whether some “elements from outside” were in those drinks.

The findings of the analysis can be expected on Wednesday.