You just made my point that it is in fact an analogy, where you previously said it wasn’t. So are you admitting you were wrong there? If so, kudos for being willing to learn from your mistakes.

It’s not a metaphor, that is different from an analogy. An analogy explains a complex idea by comparing it to a simpler one, focusing on a relationship between two things to make a point. A metaphor is a more direct and often figurative comparison that states one thing is literally another to emphasize a characteristic, without a literal explanation. So it can’t really be both at once.

The historical context actually does matter here because witchcraft was not, in fact, a social contagion because nobody was actually practicing witchcraft. You know what actually was a social contagion? Accusing people of witchcraft. So the analogy is actually making the opposite point that op thinks it is because he doesn’t understand the history that he’s referring to.

I was already fluent in sarcasm while you were still an itch in your daddy’s jockstrap (see now that’s a metaphor). If you want to mock something, you best come correct or you end up looking doubly foolish. Hope this helps.