China on Wednesday said that it has punished 3,798 civil servants for their 'poor performance' in fighting the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic last year.

The epidemic had forced the government to sack the health minister as well as the mayor of Beijing.

The disciplinary measures were part of a campaign against poor performance and illegal activities, official Xinhua news agency.

The campaign uncovered irregularities involving 8.8 billion Yuan (US $1.06 billion), according to figures provided by the Ministry of Supervision.

A total economic loss of 5.25 billion Yuan has been retrieved, the ministry said.

The SARS outbreak, which initially broke out in south China's Guangdong province, spread to other parts of China as well as to countries as far as Canada, triggering a global health alarm in 2003.

SARS claimed 349 lives in the Chinese mainland, the worst hit nation. Worldwide, SARS claimed over 900 lives and infected over 8,000 others.

Last April, the Chinese government sacked Health Minister Zhang Wenkang as well as the Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong for their inability to deal with the situation and alleged cover-up.