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Residents of Flint, Mich., affected by the contaminated-water crisis have added a new complication to their lives: an outbreak of shigellosis, a bacterial illness that is easily transmitted when people do not wash their hands.

Health department officials in Genesee County, where Flint is the largest city, said there has been an increase in the gastrointestinal illness, which can lead to severe diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, cramps and stools containing blood and mucus

[...] Residents have been relying on bottled water to drink at home but still recoil from using tap water for other purposes, such as washing and cooking. They have adapted their personal hygiene habits, including where and how they take showers. Residents are also using baby wipes, which they get free at bottled-water-distribution centers, to clean their hands. But that may be contributing to the current transmission of the shigella bacteria, because they are not chlorinated and do not kill the bacteria.

[...] It’s not the first time that a disease outbreak has been linked to the Flint water system. It was also associated with an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease from June 2014 to October 2015. At least 87 people developed the disease, and 10 died, health officials said in January.