The Ministry of Health and Environment has instituted a raft of prevention measures in the wake of bad press over the Island’s sewage dumping at sea.

The discharge from the Seabright outfall on South Shore caused the US Consul to warn bathers to check their immunisations against Hepatitis A and typhoid before taking to the waves.

However, according to a Ministry spokesperson, typhoid cases haven’t been diagnosed in Bermuda “since before 1980”, and twice-weekly testing of the water quality along South Shore beaches is now in effect.

After “grease balls” washed ashore in the vicinity of the outfall, Government and the Corporation of Hamilton intend to improve grease trapping from restaurants.

Better methods of treating waste are being investigated, and the new waste treatment plant at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is now online, the spokesperson said.

Government will also look into boosting the treatment procedure at the Tynes Bay Septage Facility, and invest in a new plant there — as well as “investigating” the extension of the pipe at Seabright.