A Marrakech medina stay is very low risk. Sand flies are the reason to pack repellent for a desert night.

A few, mostly at night in riad bedrooms, and many visitors see none at all. The World Health Organization certified Morocco malaria-free in 2010, and there is no dengue or Zika, so a stay in the medina is very low risk. The insect worth planning for is the sand fly, which spreads leishmaniasis in the countryside around the city, where the Agafay desert camps and Ourika Valley trips go.

Riad nights

A riad tends to face inward onto a courtyard open to the sky, often with a fountain or plants, and the bedrooms open onto it. That's how the odd mosquito gets in. The common night biter is Culex pipiens, the house mosquito. Keep the room door to the courtyard shut after dark and run a plug-in vaporizer, and most nights pass without a bite. If you wake up with a cluster of bites anyway, check the mattress, since bed bugs at some riads have been mistaken for mosquitoes.

That house mosquito also carries West Nile virus. University surveys at 26 sites in the Marrakech-Safi region in 2019 and 2021 found the virus in one batch of Culex pipiens, the first detection in mosquitoes from central Morocco, published in June 2026. Morocco has reported no human or horse cases with symptoms since 2010, and the closed door and vaporizer cover it.

Sand flies outside the city

Leishmaniasis is a parasite spread by phlebotomine sand flies, tiny, silent insects that bite from dusk to dawn, and the CDC's Morocco page lists it. A 2025 study classes Marrakech itself as non-endemic. The countryside around the city is another matter. In Al Haouz province, the High Atlas south of Marrakech, the most common sand fly carries Leishmania infantum, which can cause skin sores or an internal illness, and a 2026 review puts the high-risk season there at March to November. To the west, Chichaoua province, between Marrakech and Essaouira, had Morocco's highest rate of the skin form caused by Leishmania tropica in 2004–2013. The sand fly behind that form peaks in July, with its highest numbers from June to September.

For a night at an Agafay camp or an evening in the Ourika Valley between spring and fall, put repellent on ankles, arms and neck before sunset, wear long sleeves and trousers after dark and keep the tent zipped. A skin sore that won't heal in the weeks or months after the trip calls for a doctor visit; mention the desert or valley stay. The CDC also lists schistosomiasis and leptospirosis for Morocco, so don't wade or swim in rivers or irrigation channels.

When to go

December to February is the lightest stretch, when nights are too cold for most mosquitoes and sand flies. Spring is mixed, and Marrakech regulars disagree on whether the weeks after the winter rains or high summer bring more mosquitoes. Sand flies set the calendar for trips out of the city, so an Agafay night from late spring to early fall is the time to cover up after dark.

Where you're going

How the city and the usual day trips compare.

The Morocco briefing covers the Sahara camps around Merzouga and Zagora, where sand flies are a bigger concern, along with Fes and the coast.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and reviews and linked so you can read them in full. Only one gives a year, and nights in Marrakech vary with the season and the room.

• Marrakech · March · 2014

  In a 2014 thread, one visitor saw no mosquitoes at all, a resident said there were a very few in Marrakech at the time, and a regular visitor reported no bites in March or April over four years. TripAdvisor ↗

• Marrakech and Agadir · June

  Replies about June mosquitoes conflicted. One poster had never been bitten in Marrakech but still advised repellent, another thought summer heat and dryness made mosquitoes unlikely, and a third had to buy plug-in devices to sleep in both Agadir and Marrakech. One commenter said some large resort hotels spray against mosquito larvae. TripAdvisor ↗

• Riad La Rose Du Desert, Marrakech

  A guest woke up with several bites after the first night and was told by a riad manager they were mosquito bites; the guest later found blood-filled bed bugs. TripAdvisor ↗

• Morocco itinerary (Marrakech and the desert) · mid-October

  A traveler on a mid-October itinerary reported seeing no mosquitoes, and another poster said that inland, where it is drier, mosquitoes are not usually a problem except around some water sources. TripAdvisor ↗

• Scarabeo Camp, Agafay

  In a negative review that mostly criticized crowding and facilities, a guest listed mosquitoes, along with barking dogs, among the problems with the night at the camp. TripAdvisor ↗

One rule outlasts the trip. Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell the doctor you were in Morocco and whether you slept outside the city.

Traveler questions