Doctors are baffled by unusual concentration of rare eye cancer

Eye test.
(Image credit: iStock.)

A chilling mystery is affecting two communities in two different states. Over the course of roughly 20 years, cases of an extremely rare eye cancer have been cropping up in Auburn, Alabama, as well as Huntersville, North Carolina, CBS News reported Monday.

Normally, ocular melanoma only affects six in every 1 million people. "Most people don't know anyone with this disease," explained Dr. Marlana Orloff, the doctor treating Ashley McCrary, one of the patients from Alabama. But by the time McCrary was diagnosed, she already knew of two other cases — fellow alumnae of Auburn University.

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Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.