Asia spread fears grow as deadly virus brings cull

Last major incident in Chinese mainland in 2013 killed 36 and caused $6.5 billion in losses

A virulent strain of airborne bird flu extended its shadow across northeast Asia as Japan launched a new chicken cull on a southern island, days after gassing hundreds of thousands of birds some 2,400 kilometers to the north.

Tackling Japan's sixth outbreak since end-November, Kyushu authorities said they will gas just more than 120,000 chickens after the H5 virus was detected on a farm. The island lies close to South Korea, which has ordered a record cull of 20 million birds since first reporting the H5N6 virus just over a month ago.