The fact of the matter is that the earth's population is dependent on a host of technologies for its survival. Some of these technologies and the industries that use them - energy, agriculture, and the timber industry to name a few - have likely altered the natural history of the earth semi-permanently. And if any of these industries falters, then the death toll will be a lot higher than any pandemic.
Even if all the humans were gone tomorrow, their actions will still affect the natural history of the planet for a long time to come, I suspect. Can't we work towards a way to survive without making the planet less habitable (for all forms of life) than we already have?