Matheus Costa

University of Saskatchewan and Utrecht University - Canada Author

Professional Profile

Dr. Matheus Costa is a veterinarian and scientist specializing in swine health, infectious diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. His research focuses on pathogen virulence, gut health, and reducing antimicrobial use in livestock, with a commitment to animal welfare and sustainable production.
He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Swine Health Management, 2021).

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan (2024–Present)
Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan (2020–2024)
Adjunct Professor, Utrecht University (2016–Present)
Adjunct Professor, University of Minnesota (2019–2020)

Education

PhD, University of Saskatchewan (2011–2016)
DVM, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil (2011)

Board Certification

Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Swine Health Management), 2021

Research Focus

Pathogen virulence in swine; antimicrobial resistance; gut health; diseases requiring antibiotic intervention such as swine dysentery and streptococcal meningitis.

Teaching & Clinical Work

Teaches swine medicine, health, and production; provides clinical support to veterinarians and industry partners in swine production medicine.

Updated CV 05-Mar-2026

Matheus Costa 101 Followers 5 Articles

Articles 5

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Figure 2. Triad of evidence suggested to confirm the diagnosis of swine dysentery in a given herd.

HealthArticle

No swine dysentery? Challenges that mild strains of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae pose to the industry

What happens if the agent that causes swine dysentery is detected, but there is no disease? This is how can it be diagnosed and the consequences to the herd.

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Figure 1. Scatter plot showing the associations between the microbiome composition of pigs during early life (0-7 days), immediately pre-weaning (21 days), and after weaning (100 days). The largest shift is observed between pre-weaning and post-weaning samples. Alpha diversity is at its peak after weaning (shown as “microbiome diversity”).

NutritionArticle

Microbiota and swine production - The microbiota at weaning. Part 4

A simple management strategy can have an impact on the piglet’s most challenging time in life: the weaning period.

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Figure 1 – Hypothetical diagram depicting the microbiota response to an insult. 1) Healthy individuals have a normal degree of microbiota variation, which does not lead to disease (this is termed eubiosis, 2) A perturbation (e.g. heat stress) may lead to microbiota instability, causing disease. 3) Resilient microbiota will return to a state similar to that pre-perturbation, where there is no disease. 4) Microbiotas that are not resilient will not “bounce back”, thus suffering dysbiosis and a prolonged state of disease.

NutritionArticle

Microbiota and swine production - Where are we at with microbiome interventions? - Part 3

The reader should be aware that in microbiome research correlation does not imply causation.

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Figure 4. Dynamics of alpha and beta diversity during the lifetime of a pig.

NutritionArticle

Microbiota and swine production - How to read microbiota studies? Part 2

How can we make sense of the increasing information available regarding the swine microbiota and apply it at the barn level? In this second article of the series, Matheus Costa explains.

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Figure 1. Estimated relative proportion of different microorganisms in the swine gut microbiome. While bacteria correspond to the vast majority of the microbes in the swine gut, other microorganisms play an important role in the complex network that is the gut-microbiota crosstalk.

NutritionArticle

Untangling the microbiota and swine production – Why are we not there yet? Part 1

What is the microbiota, and how can it help keep pigs healthy? What are the current limitations to using DNA sequencing of microbes?

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31-May-2022Laurynas VadopalasHello everyone,
here is our reasearch about it:
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.528990
We think that it is very useful tool to get a better pig health and production status at the farm. There is possible modulate microbiota.
LSMU Phd student
Laurynas V.

Matheus Costa

No swine dysentery? Challenges that mild strains of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae pose to the industry

Microbiota and swine production - The microbiota at weaning. Part 4

Microbiota and swine production - Where are we at with microbiome interventions? - Part 3

Microbiota and swine production - How to read microbiota studies? Part 2

Untangling the microbiota and swine production – Why are we not there yet? Part 1

Zhou Lydia

DAVI LIOU

Cargill Animal Nutrition and Health

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