Man stung by jellyfish dies

A British tourist has apparently become the first person in the world to die from the sting of the peanut-sized Irukandji jellyfish.

British consular officials on Friday identified the victim as Richard Graham Jordan, 58, from Driffield in Yorkshire, who was travelling in Australia with his wife Jean.

Mr Jordan brushed against the tiny yet extremely poisonous jellyfish while swimming near Hamilton Island in northern Queensland on Wednesday.

He lapsed into a coma before being airlifted to hospital at Mackay, about 620 miles north of the state capital, Brisbane. He died there late yesterday.

Hamilton Island Resort spokeswoman Susan Boyd said yesterday that the sting aggravated the man’s existing heart and blood pressure problems, which led to a cerebral haemorrhage.

The Irukandji, just 2cm (0.8in) in diameter, discharges venom from stinging cells on its tentacles when touched. Found off Australia’s north-east coast during the tropical wet season, it is a smaller relative of the lethal box jellyfish.

There has never been a death attributed to the sting of an Irukandji, but since 1998 it has put two people in hospital with heart problems.

James Cook University zoologist Jamie Seymour said if the death proved to be the result of the Irukandji sting, it would be the first anywhere in the world.

‘‘It’s incredibly significant,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s the sort of thing we’ve been saying for a while - that these animals have the potential to kill people.’’

An autopsy was expected to be carried out today to determine the exact cause of death.

Unusual weather has driven record numbers of Irukandji - which can slip through protective swimming nets designed to keep the larger box jellyfish away from beaches - near shore in northern Queensland in the past two months.

About 20 people have been treated at the Hamilton Island Medical Centre for Irukandji stings since November 2000 and more than 79 people in the Cairns area were taken to hospital with stings in the past two months.

The Queensland state government has refused to fund research into an antidote for the Irukandji jellyfish sting because there had been no previous recorded deaths.

Mr Seymour said the sting of an Irukandji can lead to cramps, nausea, anxiety and depression.

‘‘The amount of pain they cause is severe - I mean really, really, really severe,’’ he said. ‘‘And the worst thing is it comes in waves and you get this feeling of impending doom.’’

But Mr Seymour urged locals and tourists not to panic.

‘‘The chances of being stung and dying are incredibly small,’’ he said.