[zeroonetwothree]

It’s controversial. Some would characterize viruses as alive (because they replicate and evolve). So it’s fair to say that you can kill them (prevent from replicating). Debating the semantics of this is not helpful.

[Marsymars]

And in the non-controversial case - i.e. prions, people generally don't use the term "kill", they use the term "deactivate".