Only last year, the toe of Africa had but a few short months to bask in the global interest stirred by scrappy sci-fi sleeper District 9 before said interest was swiftly eradicated by Clint Eastwood's Invictus, the "coach Nelson Mandela story" so prodigiously dull even the Oscars turned it down.
If that gave Atletico players any psychological advantage, it was swiftly eradicated when Simeone's side lost two of their key players inside the opening 20 minutes.
In other European countries and some territories of the American continent (e.g., Brazil [ 6], the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba [ 7]), ASF virus (ASFV) was also introduced in the 20th century, but was swiftly eradicated by drastic control programs.
However, poor countries in Asia, such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, lack the veterinary facilities for surveillance of the disease in animals, the laboratories to test samples and the ability to respond swiftly to eradicate outbreaks.
The most revealing thing to emerge from this busy whir, however, is an aging newsman's strangely nave, but also poignant, bewilderment at how swiftly time eradicates the importance of today's events and those who report on them.
A better use of limited resources may be ensuring that global surveillance efforts are adequate to detect emerging flu viruses as early as possible and providing the means to eradicate them swiftly.
It is the new curse of rugby and his obvious guilt must prompt the game's leaders to eradicate it, just as they moved swiftly to end the spear tackle after what happened to Brian O'Driscoll in 2005.
