A sulfated polysaccharide was isolated from the hot water extract of a brown alga, Sargassum horneri (TURNER) C. AGARDH. Fucose was detected as the main component sugar of this polysaccharide. This compound showed potent antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1, human cytomegalovirus and human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Time-of-addition experiments suggested that it inhibited not only the initial stages of viral infection, such as attachment to and penetration into host cells, but also later replication stages after virus penetration.