The World Health Organization announced on Friday that Kenya has officially eliminated sleeping sickness as a public health concern, becoming the 10th country to achieve this milestone.
The vector-borne disease, formally called human African trypanosomiasis, is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
Without treatment, HAT is generally fatal, the WHO says.
Sleeping sickness is transmitted to humans through the bites of tsetse flies that have acquired the the blood parasite Trypanosoma brucei from infected humans or animals.
Rural populations dependent on agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting are deemed most at risk of exposure.
“I congratulate the government and people of Kenya on this landmark achievement,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
“Kenya joins the growing ranks of countries freeing their populations of HAT. This is another step towards making Africa free of neglected tropical diseases.”
The parasites can cross the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system.
Generally this is when more obvious signs and symptoms of HAT appear, says the WHO: behaviour changes, confusion, sensory disturbances and poor coordination.
Sleep cycle disturbance, which gives the disease its name, is a prominent feature.
The first cases in Kenya were detected in the early 20th century.
Besides Kenya, the others that have now eliminated sleeping sickness as a public health problem are Benin, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.