The Estrie public health department is opening an epidemiological investigation after a citizen reported several cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in her community.
Posted at 5:17 p.m.
Estrie public health will decide if further study is possible after verifying this information. “The goal would then be to explore the potential environmental causes that we would need to control,” specifies the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center of Estrie-Sherbrooke University Hospital Center (CIUSSSE-CHUS), in an email .
It was a citizen of Windsor, Julie Dubois, who raised the alarm with public health after her husband, now dead, was diagnosed with ALS during the pandemic, reported Wednesday the Montreal Journal. The mother of four is said to have listed at least 18 people who have been diagnosed with ALS in the Windsor area.
Before undertaking a more in-depth study, the Estrie public health department must first verify whether an abnormal number of people are indeed affected in the community in question, specifies the CIUSSSE-CHUS. This preliminary stage will take place over several weeks.
This type of study would be “much more complex” and would require the contribution of a diversity of expertise, particularly in toxicology, epidemiology, geography and geomatics, underlines the CIUSSSE-CHUS, warning that this approach could take up to ‘for several years.
“At this stage, it is much too early to advance on certain hypotheses, we want to keep a broad vision in order to evaluate the different possible sources,” he adds.
Health
