How do I avoid travellers' diarrhoea in Morocco?

Travellers' diarrhoea — the dreaded 'Marrakech tummy' — is the single most common thing to befall visitors, and the good news is that a few simple habits cut the odds dramatically. It almost always comes from contaminated water or food, so water is rule one: drink bottled or properly filtered water, use it even for brushing your teeth in places where the tap is suspect, and be wary of ice, since ice is just frozen tap water. A refillable bottle with a built-in filter solves this neatly and spares the plastic.

Food is where a little knowledge goes a long way, and the guiding principle is beautifully simple: hot, fresh, and busy. Food that's been cooked through and served piping hot has had the bugs killed off; the danger zone is anything lukewarm, sitting out, or reheated. Counter-intuitively, the bustling street stall with a queue of locals is often safer than a sleepy tourist restaurant, because high turnover means the food is fresh and constantly cooked rather than languishing. I happily eat brochettes and tagines from packed stalls; I'm wary of the buffet that's been warming for hours.

A few specific traps to sidestep: raw salads and herbs (often rinsed in tap water), unpeeled fruit you didn't peel yourself, food left uncovered around flies, unpasteurised dairy, and shellfish away from the coast. Stick to fruit you can peel — oranges, bananas — bread that's freshly baked, cooked vegetables, and that wonderful hot mint tea, which is boiled and safe. And wash or sanitise your hands before every meal; a lot of stomach trouble actually arrives via hands, not the food itself, especially after handling cash and door handles in the souk.

Even doing everything right, you might still catch a mild bout — most travellers do at some point, and it usually passes in a day or two. So pack the simple kit: oral rehydration salts (the most important item, since dehydration is the real risk, doubly so in the heat), an anti-diarrhoeal like loperamide for travel days, and rest and fluids when it hits. If it's severe, bloody, comes with high fever, or drags on beyond a couple of days, see a doctor — and of course ask your travel clinic in advance whether they'd suggest carrying a standby antibiotic for your trip.