The bottom line is that if FMD can occur at this operation, no South African cattle farm or feedlot is safe. But there is no need to rush out to stock up your freezer.

Karan Beef said this week that a case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) had been confirmed at its gigantic feedlot facility at Heidelberg in southeastern Gauteng, the latest outbreak of the highly contagious viral infection to hit South Africa's cattle and beef industry.

At 2,330 hectares, Karan Beef's Heidelberg feedlot is the largest in the world. They say everything is bigger in Texas, but this facility outstrips the massive feedlots that are a defining feature of the grassy landscape along Interstate Highway 40 of the Texas Panhandle, the heart of the global beef industry.

Outbreaks elsewhere have already curbed South African beef exports, but concerns raised on social media about local price increases are misplaced, as domestic supplies are expected to increase as a result.

It's still very concerning because Karan Beef is widely regarded as South Africa's top beef brand, supplying most of the country's recognised retailers and premier butchers and restaurants.

That reputation has been built in part on its strict biosecurity measures. In 2007, Karan Beef was South Africa's first beef producer to achieve the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) food standards accreditation.

This is the gold standard on this front, described by the UN's...