Awake! Said It in 1990

RECENTLY, the spread of “mad-cow disease” has caused great alarm in Europe. Many fear that the illness can be transmitted to humans. Some also believe that there is a link between consumption of meat from infected animals and the development of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a progressive and inevitably fatal disease of the human central nervous system. Not surprisingly, as news of mad-cow disease spread, beef consumption plummeted.

Interestingly, Stefania Ferrari wrote in the May 1996 issue of the Italian periodical TuttoReggio: “We have come across a magazine that was already speaking about this disastrous plague in 1990—Awake!, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The article she referred to is entitled “Britain’s ‘Mad Cow’ Dilemma” and appeared in the issue of November 8, 1990. After quoting the opening four paragraphs, Ferrari expressed her astonishment that this article appeared “six years before the whole business was brought before the attention of the public worldwide.” She continued: “On seeing this 1990 article that reported such incredibly up-to-date information, some have said: ‘If Jehovah’s Witnesses knew about such a serious and important matter, why didn’t they bring it to the attention of everyone, even those who do not belong to their congregations?’ Let’s be honest: If one of Jehovah’s Witnesses had knocked on our door in 1990 showing us the Bible and that article published in their magazine, how many of us who follow a different religion would have taken it seriously?”

Back in 1990, when the article “Britain’s ‘Mad Cow’ Dilemma” was published, Awake! had an average printing of almost 12 million copies, in 62 languages. Jehovah’s Witnesses were busy distributing this timely journal in more than 200 lands worldwide. Today, Awake! has an average printing of 18,350,000 copies in 82 languages. This journal continues to publish informative and up-to-date articles. If you would like to receive future issues of Awake!, please contact Jehovah’s Witnesses locally or write to the nearest address listed on page 5.