The innate immune response is the first line of defence against viruses, involving the production oftype I IFN (IFN- / ) and other pro-inflammatory cytokines that control the infection. It also shapes theadaptive immune response generated by both T and B cells. Production of type I IFN occurs both in vivoand in vitro in response to Bluetongue virus (BTV), an arthropod-borne virus. However, the mechanismsresponsible for the production of IFN- in response to BTV remained unknown until recently and are stillnot completely understood. In this review, we describe the recent advances in the identification of cellularsensors and signalling pathways involved in this process. The RNA helicases retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5) were shown to be involved in theexpression of IFN- as well as in the control of BTV infection in non-haematopoietic cells. In contrast,induction of IFN- / synthesis in sheep primary plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) required the MyD88adaptor independently of the Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), as well as the kinases dsRNA-activated proteinkinase (PKR) and stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK)/Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK). As type IIFN is essential for the establishment of an antiviral cellular response, most of viruses have elaboratedcounteracting mechanisms to hinder its action. This review also addresses the ability of BTV to interferewith IFN- synthesis and the recent findings describing the non-structural viral protein NS3 as a powerfulantagonist of the host cellular response.