Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers containing ZnO nanorods and various copper salts were prepared by electrospinning, and their antiviral activities in response to visible light were investigated. The morphologies of ZnO nanorods were investigated using HR-TEM, and optical properties were measured by UV–vis spectroscopy. The electrospun nanofibers were characterized using SEM and X-ray spectroscopy, and the antiviral activities of the fabricated Cu-ZnO/PAN nanofibers were evaluated using φx174 under visible light irradiation. The nanofibers containing CuBr and ZnO nanorods exhibited outstanding antiviral efficacy owing to the suppression of Cu (I) oxidation into inactive Cu (II) by ZnO nanorods as a photocatalyst.