Huron County, ON – The Huron County Health Unit is still collecting information for its investigation into a possible cancer cluster in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township.
Public Health Epidemiologist, Dr. Erica Clark, says the health unit has received a steady response from residents who have had cancer and want to be included in the investigation.
The health unit launched the investigation after receiving a concern from a resident about the number of people with cancer in the ACW area. Huron County as a whole does not have higher than normal cancer rates, but cancer rates are not broken down by township.
Clark is collecting the following information from people who call in:
- Name
- Phone Number (for follow up questions)
- Email (to receive investigation summary in March)
- Gender
- Date of birth
- Type of cancer diagnosed with
- Year of diagnosis
- Address at time of diagnosis
- Length of time lived at address prior to diagnosis
If individual moved away from Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township prior to being diagnosed with cancer, they will be asked for the address where he or she used to live and the years lived at that address.
People with deceased friends or family members who lived in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township and were diagnosed with cancer are also asked to contact Clark at the health unit at 519.482.3416 or email her at eclark [at] huroncounty [dot] ca before February 28, 2014.
All information is kept confidential and no names or other identifying information will be released.
An update on the investigation will be made available in March 2014.
For more information:
Our media contact is: Angela Sturdy, 519.482.3416 ext. 2010
Our spokesperson is: Dr. Erica Clark, Epidemiologist