A report in a weekly Burmese magazine said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) plans to continue its polio vaccination program in Burma this year.

Weekly Eleven said the vaccination campaign in Burma will be conducted in two rounds this year - once in January and a second round in February.

The magazine said the campaign will include areas of the country that were hit by Cyclone Nargis last May.

UNICEF has been carrying out a vaccination campaign in Burma since 1996. The campaign also includes vaccination against measles, tetanus, diphtheria, whopping cough, and ARI - Acute Respiratory Infection - diseases.

In 2007, Burmese officials reported a new outbreak of polio near the country's western border with Bangladesh.

The outbreak of the potentially crippling disease occurred in Rakhine state.

Burma declared itself free of polio in 2000. But the virus was detected again in the East Asian country in 2006.  Polio also continues to infect people in parts of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.