The spread of the Zika virus, suspected of causing microcephaly in fetuses, has led a rabbi in Rio De Janeiro to state that the need to fight the disease overrides religious prohibitions against killing bugs on the Sabbath.

“Mothers must take all measures against Zika, such as applying repellent,” Rabbi Yehoshua Goldman, the chief Chabad envoy in Rio, told JTA. “The mosquito can be killed even on Shabbat, for it threatens life.”