A 17-year-old boy who was stung by a box jellyfish on Feb. 22 in Queensland, Australia, has died in a hospital while under intensive care.
The unidentified teenager was swimming at Patterson Point near the town of Bamaga, in North Queensland, when he was stung. He died Wednesday at Townsville Hospital, according to authorities.
9 News reports that this marks the first fatality caused by a box jellyfish sting in 15 years.
Box jellyfish, or box jellies, inhabit coastal water of Northern Australia and the Into-Pacific. They’ve been described as the world’s deadliest creature and their venom attacks the nervous system, heart, and skin cells.
According to National Geographic, “Human victims have been known to go into shock and drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors can experience considerable pain for weeks and often have significant scarring where the tentacles made contact.”
However, there are at least 51 species of box jellyfish and not all possess such powerful venom.
7 News reports that box jellyfish have been implicated in at least 70 deaths in Australian waters since record-keeping began in the 1880s. In 2007, a 6-year-old boy died after being stung in the Northern Territory in 2007.
–Box jellyfish image is generic