Morocco has no malaria. The desert's sand flies are the bite to plan for.

Yes, though most visitors see few, and there's no malaria. The World Health Organization certified Morocco malaria-free in 2010, and the CDC lists no malaria medicine for it. The bite that matters is the sand fly's, which spreads cutaneous leishmaniasis in the pre-Saharan south, where desert tours spend the night.

Sand flies and the Sahara camps

Phlebotomine sand flies are tiny flies that bite from dusk to dawn, and they spread leishmaniasis, which the CDC lists for Morocco. For travelers the form to know is cutaneous leishmaniasis, the skin form. In the south and the pre-Sahara, the Draa-Tafilalet region carried the heaviest burden from 1995 to 2022, and Zagora province was the main hotspot, with more than 4,000 new cases in 2017–2018. In the 2010 peak year, 54% of the 6,444 cases of this type were in Errachidia province. Desert camps around Zagora and Merzouga's Erg Chebbi dunes, and the Draa valley toward Ouarzazate, sit in the main zones.

On desert nights from spring to autumn, wear long sleeves and pants after dark, put repellent on exposed skin, and sleep in a closed tent or a screened or air-conditioned room. Permethrin-treated clothing adds a layer. A skin sore that doesn't heal in the weeks or months after the trip is a reason to see a doctor, and mention the desert stay.

Other forms circulate in the center and north. Chichaoua province, between Marrakech and Essaouira, had the highest rate of a second cutaneous type in 2004–2013, and the visceral form has newer foci in the north, including Chefchaouen province. In the medinas of Fes and Chefchaouen, the risk to short-stay visitors is low.

Marrakech riads and the cities

Mosquitoes in Marrakech tend to be few and nocturnal, and they mostly turn up in bedrooms. The common night biter is Culex pipiens, the mosquito that carries West Nile. Researchers found the virus in mosquitoes from the Marrakech-Safi region in 2019 and 2021 surveys, but Morocco has reported no human or horse cases with symptoms since 2010. A plug-in vaporizer in the bedroom is usually enough.

Dengue and Zika aren't part of the picture. A 2025 Moroccan review says the country is non-endemic for dengue, with only two imported cases on record, though the tiger mosquito was recently identified in Rabat. The CDC's Zika page puts Morocco among areas with no mosquitoes that spread Zika. Bed bugs have turned up at some riads and camps, and their bites have been mistaken for mosquito bites, so check the bed on the first night.

When to go

December to February tends to be the lightest stretch, when nights in Marrakech, Fes and the desert are too cold for sand flies and most mosquitoes. Spring is mixed. Marrakech visitors disagree on whether spring after the winter rains or high summer brings more mosquitoes. Roughly June to October is the worst for bites at Sahara camps and in rural areas, and a desert camp in late autumn is still inside the sand fly season. In Al Haouz province, the High Atlas south of Marrakech, a study put the high-risk sand fly season at March to November, though high trekking camps around Imlil and Toubkal are cool at night.

Where you're going

Here is how the main stops compare.

Combining Morocco with Spain, Portugal or Egypt? Those briefings cover the next stop.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and a riad review and linked so you can read them in full. Only one is dated, to 2014, and bites in Morocco change a lot with the month 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 ↗

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

Traveler questions