text: The members of genus Orbivirus within the Reoviridae family are arthropod borne viruses and are responsible for high morbidity and mortality in ruminants. Bluetongue virus (BTV) which causes disease in livestock (sheep, goat, cattle) has been in the forefront of molecular studies for the last three decades and now represents the best understood orbivirus at the molecular and structural levels.  BTV, like other members of the family, is a complex non-enveloped virus with seven structural proteins and a RNA genome consisting of 10 variously sized dsRNA segments.