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ABC News
ABC News
National
By Kathryn Diss

Sting by one of world's most deadly jellyfish closes Broome's Cable Beach

Swimmers were told to get out of the water after the person was stung.

Broome's Cable Beach has been closed after a female swimmer was stung by one of the world's deadliest jellyfish.

Surf Life Saving WA said the woman made her own way to hospital for treatment after being stung by an irukandji jellyfish.

She is in a stable condition in Broome Hospital.

Warning signs have been erected along the popular swimming beach, with locals and tourists coming ashore as surf lifesavers and shire rangers spread word of the sting.

Surf Life Saving WA said the beach would remain closed for 24 hours, and regular net drags would be carried out in the area in that time.

About 10 people are stung by an irukandji in the Broome area each year.

The latest incident comes just weeks after 14-year-old Hannah Mitchell was left fighting for her life after being stung on her arm while swimming off the state's Pilbara coast on Easter Sunday.

Hannah was placed in an induced coma for several days at Princess Margaret Hospital, where she spent two weeks recovering.

Along with excruciating pain and cramping, one of the more unusual symptoms from an irukandji sting is a sense of impending doom.

Reactions to sting unpredictable

Little is known about irukandji jellyfish in WA.

James Cook University Institute for Tropical Health and Medicine Associate Professor Jamie Seymour said it was difficult to predict exactly how people would react to irukandji jellyfish stings.

"The issue we have with irukandji stings is that we don't know enough about it," he said.

"One would expect that small children and elderly people should [experience] a greater effect, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"But the vast majority of people who do get stung by this animal ... are going to [end up in] hospital in a truckload of pain."

There have only been two deaths recorded from irukandji jellyfish stings.

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