Can you use them one-handed?
yes. For me this is no problem.
yep - very real issue and why a lot of pros will squirt a little out of the bottle before taking a swig - you can see it on the tv all the time especially in the spring classics and early races when the roads are mucky.
Actually very possible. Only takes a few Giardia cysts to produce infection. (Based on my undergraduate microbiology degree from a loooong time ago)
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Recall your class in probability as well. I am not saying if you ingest feces you will probably not become ill.
I said that the likelihood of ingesting feces is an unlikely event from a speck of contaminated run off splashing onto the mouth piece of your bottle.
Despite many peopleās anecdotes of (possibly) becoming sick from a potentially contaminated water bottle, this does not change the statistical likelihood.
Not sure why you think the probability is so low as to be unlikely. Contaminated runoff causes illness all the time. You donāt need to chug a turd to get sick. And with the extremely low infectious dose of giardia it is quite possible, especially if thereās a herd of infected pigs/cows/horse upstream. Iām not saying that is what happened. Just that it is possible.
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The overall probability over all miles ridden is very very low. Iād go so far as guessing its close to zero if you donāt ride in the wet.
But, shrink that sample down to miles ridden in the rain on roads passing by livestock farms (or a local problem in my parts - city parks with geese populations) and the probability of animal fecal matter ending up in or near your mouth goes up considerably and it gets even higher if its a group ride 
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Whole new meaning to rooster tailā¦
Racing in Amish Country in the rain leads to chewing on horse shit. Whether you get it from the bottle or not, the spray from the wheels is going to put it into your face and mouth. You can feel the grit and grime in your teeth long after the races finish
Personally never gotten sick from it, but I donāt ride in that direction when its raining and try to avoid it when possible.
Given you were riding with others who also wouldāve gotten this stuff on their bottles - Iād focus more on what you did differently from them. Perhaps it was diet, perhaps something else on the bike - but compare the things you consumed with the things they consumed
To the crowd that thinks this is a legitimate concern, how many of you have and use your special nipple top covers? I have ridden for 10 years and never have seen another rider with one. I doubt any of you do either. Which is why I say to OP that it stinks your trip was ruined but Iād chalk it up as dumb luck and carry on as usual.
Iāve ridden for a few more and seen them all the time. However Iām from the camp of thought that you heavily deride for not understanding statistics.
Few years ago on a wet winter group ride on a Saturday we rode past what is locally called āsmelly cornerā where a farmer dumps dead animals and their living counterpartsā excrement, right next to the road !
And low and behold by the Monday morning 4 of the 8 of us where horribly ill and unable to keep any food down. Now there is a chance that we could of all got food poisoning at the same time but that group ride was the only time that week we met and none of our families got ill. So there is a high chance that we did get a bug off the spray from the road or our bottles.
It does help to note that this is the only time this has ever happened to me in many years of riding down sh!tty lanes, but on wet rides, when i am not riding with mudguards, I do now spit out the first sip of water just to be safe !
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Do you use them too or just think OP should?
I donāt live where itās necessary at the moment, no one sprays slurry round these parts any more.
Iāve used many of the tactics mentioned here in the past though. Bottles with caps, cleaning the teat before drinking, mudguards. With some success, and some occasions where success wasnāt successful.
I live in Chicago, no need for one here. But if I was riding across streams of pig shit I most certainly would.