据美国政治新闻网（Politico）报道，《旧金山纪事报》25日公布了加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉县验尸官的一份报告，显示当地一名女子是美国最早记录的新冠肺炎死亡病例，其死因是新冠肺炎引起的严重心脏病。
《旧金山纪事报》获取的尸检报告显示，这名57岁的女子Dowd于2月6日去世，其去世前几天曾出现流感类似症状。由医学检查员Susan Parson博士进行的尸检发现，她的心脏、气管、肺部和肠道都存在新冠病毒感染。
Patricia Dowd, 57, died Feb. 6 and had reported flu-like symptoms in the days before her death, according to the report. The autopsy, performed by medical examiner Dr. Susan Parson, found COVID-19 viral infection in her heart, trachea, lungs and intestines.
《旧金山纪事报》公布的尸检报告
尸检还发现，她有轻度肥胖，且心脏轻度增大，但没有导致心脏病发作的冠心病或血栓。尸检报告指出，她心脏周围的囊中血液聚集，导致心脏受压过大而破裂。
She was mildly obese and had a mildly enlarged heart, according to the autopsy, but had no coronary heart disease or clotting that would have caused a heart attack. The autopsy found that blood had collected in the sac around her heart, leading to pressure on the heart that caused it to rupture.
据《旧金山纪事报》，这份尸检报告早在2月7日就开始进行，但直到4月23日才完成、签字。
The autopsy was performed Feb. 7 but not completed and signed off on until Thursday.
尸检报告日期
这是目前美国已知的最早的新冠死亡病例，这表明新冠病毒早在1月、甚至更早就已经开始在加州传播。
之前美国疾控中心通报的第一例新冠死亡病例是在华盛顿州，死于2月28日。而上述加州的这一病例在更早的三周前死亡，但直到本周才被认定为美国的第一例新冠死亡病例。
The death came three weeks before Washington state reported its Feb. 28 death, which until this week was considered the nation's first.
除了这个病例，加州圣克拉拉法医办公室还保存了2月和3月初进行尸检的另外两名死者的组织，因为官员们看到了病毒感染的证据，对死者进行了包括流感在内的疑似致死病毒检测，结果均呈阴性。首席验尸官说，怀疑他们的死亡原因是感染新冠病毒，但当时无法对他们进行测试。
...as well as from two other people autopsied in February and early March, because officials saw evidence of viral infection and the victims tested negative for likely culprits including influenza. The chief medical examiner-coroner has said she suspected their deaths were because of COVID-19 but could not test them at the time.
北加州圣克拉拉卫生部门主管萨拉·科迪（Sara Cody） 图源：AP
圣克拉拉县卫生部门主管萨拉·科迪表示，“我们在一月和二月初没有太多的检测试剂盒可用，所以无法对需要的人检测。验尸官会遇到一些情况，然后质疑是否可能是传染病，因此他们保留了样品。最终的检测结果显示感染了新冠病毒。”
4月23日，美国加州州长开文·纽森下令，要求验尸官和医学检验员对加州2019年12月以来的死者做尸检，查明疫情最早何时在加州发生。
编辑：付慧敏
实习生：张景茜 顾贝盈
中国日报（ID：CHINADAILYWX）综合《旧金山纪事报》 政客新闻网 环球网
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