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ALBANY, GA. --
After a case of mad cow disease was discovered in California, people in southwest Georgia want to know if this could affect the food chain.

Local health officials say no. Mad cow disease shouldn't be a concern for consumers because the presence of the disease is so rare in this country.

Experts say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a strict surveillance process to check for the disease and make sure it doesn't get into the food chain.

“When they have a dead cow, they randomly pick them for surveillance and this happened to be one of the young cows that they picked so because of that and because of just how rare mad cow disease is, we're in good shape,” says Jacqueline Jenkins, Southwest Georgia Health Department Epidemiologist.

She says cases discovered in the past have been associated with foreign travel.