Which statement about the Shattuck Report is accurate?

• A. A report on cholera outbreaks in London.
• B. Commissioned in Massachusetts and foundational to the sanitation movement in the US.
• C. A hospital accreditation standard.
• D. The first comprehensive clinical trial of sanitation interventions.

Answer: (B)

The Shattuck Report is a landmark because it lays out how a formal public health system should work in the United States, starting with Massachusetts. It was produced by a Massachusetts commission in 1850, chaired by Lemuel Shattuck, and it argued for creating state and local health departments, collecting vital statistics, enforcing sanitary codes, and coordinating measures to control infectious diseases. Its recommendations helped spur the establishment of boards of health and broad sanitation reforms across many states, making it a foundational influence on the US public health movement. It is not about cholera in London, not a hospital accreditation standard, and not a clinical trial of sanitation interventions.