I already commented above but no, they aren't - silicosos is similar to one of the several possible diseases asbestos can give you, asbestosis, but mesothelioma is the real horror outcome from asbestos exposure which I don't believe silica has any kind of similar connected disease.

Yes, maybe I expressed myself improperly, mesothelioma (often originated from asbestos) is slow (like 20 to 40 years from exposure):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesothelioma

the workers in the article are young and are dying from the effects of "plainer" silicosis (which is similar to asbestosis).