[byyyy]

No. Causation is different from correlation. "Associated with" means correlation, "probable cause" means causation. Causation is the stronger statement here.

While technically association is a prerequisite for causation (correlation doesn't imply causation but causation implies correlation) probable "cause" is too strong of a term here because the experiment didn't actually do a causative test. "Possible cause" might be better here because the title heavily implies a causative study was done.

Do note that in science nothing can be proven so in actuality probable cause is really the highest form of verification that can be made. That is the claim in the title.