Depopulation of East Asia

In early 2004, the Bird flu epidemic crosses the species barrier, and spreads like a wildfire from SE Asia, up into China proper. Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand, stop all air and ship traffic, as to decrease the likelyhood of the flu spreading into their contries. North and South America follow, and with some controls in place, the death toll in these controls stays between 10,000 to 100,000.

Asia proper is not so lucky. With people trying to flee infected areas, the flu spreads all over Asia, and the death toll explodes to well above 100 million in China alone. This effects food production, and trade, which leads to even more dying from lack of food.

How wouold this massive depopulation of Eastern Asia effect the world? Short term, long term?

Containing a plague this virulent and contagious nears ASB levels. Planes can cross oceans in hours. If the virus spreads slower, it should be containable like SARS was. If it spreads faster, it is going to go global. A virus depopulating a quarter of a continent and sparing the rest of the world in 2004 is not plausible.

This could also have happened if yellow fever had got into southeast Asia.

I don't think the bird flu is capable of killing THAT many people. You might have deaths of many very young and very old people (those who typically die of normal flu), but I think a Black Death-style die-off is a bit much.

Black Death levels? This isn't anywhere near Black Death levels.

A hundred million dead in China? So what? That's less than one in twelve. The thread title isn't terribly accurate, methinks. I'd say it doesn't count as depopulation if you still have the largest population in the world when it's done.